The CentreAyesha Manazir Siddiqi2023

Anisa Ellahi dreams of being a translator of 'great works of literature', but instead mostly spends her days subtitling Bollywood movies, living off her parents’ generous allowance, and discussing the 'underside of life' with her best friend, Naima. Anisa’s mediocre white boyfriend, Adam, only adds to her growing sense of inadequacy with his savant-level aptitude for languages, successfully leveraging his expansive knowledge into an enviable career. But when Adam learns to speak Urdu with native fluency practically overnight, Anisa forces him to reveal his secret.

Adam begrudgingly tells Anisa about the Centre, an elite, invite-only programme that guarantees near-instant fluency in any language. Sceptical but intrigued, Anisa enrolls—stripped of her belongings and contact with the outside world—and emerges ten days later fluent in German. As Anisa enmeshes herself further within the Centre, seduced by all it’s made possible, she soon realises the true cost of its services.

Titre original : The Centre (2023)