Hoba, the Emirati horror film about a wife whose husband takes a second wife, is streaming on STARZPLAY a year after its UAE cinema run.
Anyone who missed it in cinemas, where it opened on 30 October 2025, can now watch it in the STARZPLAY app on compatible devices. The film is arriving for “audiences across the region”, according to the release on mid-east.info, and it fits STARZPLAY’s push for “compelling Arabic and Gulf content” alongside international productions. The release doesn’t give a start date or a list of countries.
The story follows Amani (Bdoor Mohammed), a devoted wife and mother. Her world turns upside down when her husband, Khalid (Jassim Al Kharraz), returns with his second wife, Zahra (Saudi actress and filmmaker Sarah Taibah). As things darken, Amani tries to protect her daughter, Noor (Eman Tarek). The film blends family drama, psychological suspense, and supernatural horror, and it was filmed entirely in Abu Dhabi.
It’s about love, fear and resilience, and what happens when the familiar turns unfamiliar, when the people we trust most begin to feel like strangers.
Majid Al Ansari, director
Khaleej Times says Al Ansari’s debut, Zinzana, was the first Emirati feature to stream on Netflix. He has also worked on the Netflix series Paranormal. He shot Hoba on 16mm film, which Khaleej Times says added “both texture and challenge”. As Al Ansari put it to Aletihad, “Horror lets you tell the truth in disguise.” Image Nation Studios, the Abu Dhabi studio, made it with Spooky Pictures, the Los Angeles company behind Late Night with the Devil and Strange Darling. It’s the first Arabic-language feature the two companies have made together, and the producers include Roy Lee (Barbarian, It) and Steven Schneider (Insidious, Paranormal Activity).
From Austin to Abu Dhabi
The release says Hoba won the Best Horror Film award at Fantastic Fest in Austin, Texas, where it premiered in 2025. Wikipedia, which calls the prize Best Horror Feature, says it was the first Arabic-language film to win it. It went on to screen at Sitges, the BFI London Film Festival, and the Busan International Film Festival.
Back home, Hoba “achieved the highest box-office earnings for an Emirati psychological horror thriller”, according to the release, but the release gives no figure. The National called it “an Emirati horror masterpiece that can be watched in any country and still be as scary”. Wikipedia says Rotten Tomatoes lists all 11 counted reviews as positive, with an average of 7.1/10.
In the United States, the film is titled The Vile. Dark Sky Films bought its US distribution rights in October 2026 and will announce release plans later.
Hoba is the latest sign of Emirati cinema travelling, after BAAB, the first Emirati feature by a woman at the Cairo International Film Festival. For a double bill, there’s more STARZPLAY horror in Hugh Grant’s Heretic.
