Dakota Johnson says Saudi Arabia has “renewed” her faith in cinema

Posted On December 6, 2025December 6, 2025

Dakota Johnson has praised the film industry in Saudi Arabia and admitted that, compared to the state of things in the United States, it has “renewed” her faith in cinema.

Johsnon recently appeared at Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea International Film Festival. The festival focuses on new storytelling trends with a keen eye on emerging talents from Saudi Arabia, the Arab world, and the rest of the world.

Speaking in conversation at the festival, the Materialists star shared, “The thing I feel about this festival is inspired. I feel inspired to operate this way in our own production company in the States; I want to support all these filmmakers.”

She went on to add, “There’s so much I’m learning from being here,” before musing, “In the States it feels really grim; and even in the less than 24 hours that I’ve been here [in Saudi Arabia], I have a renewed faith in cinema.”

In 2017, the country lifted a ban on cinemas that had been in place for 35 years.

Johnson has made other remarks, hitting out at the film industry in the States, labelling it as “boring” and “bleak”.

“People are just so afraid, and I’m like, ‘Why? What’s going to happen if you do something brave?’ It just feels like nobody knows what to do, and everyone’s afraid. That’s what it feels like. Everyone who makes decisions is afraid. They want to do the safe thing, and the safe thing is really boring,” she lamented last year.

Johnson’s upcoming titles include Michael Showalter’s crime drama Verity with Anne Hathaway and Josh Hartnett.

Johnson’s own directorial debut, A Tree Is Blue, starring Charli XCX, Vanessa Burghardt and fellow Red Sea attendee Jessica Alba, is currently in production.

Johnson’s latest foray onto the screen was for Celine Song’s romantic-comedy Materialists, which saw her play a matchmaker pulled between two love interests.

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