One Last Sin: Family, power and vengeance drive new Lebanese drama

Yango Play’s new Arabic show follows a Beirut family caught in a web of secrets and betrayal

Samer Ismail, left, and Carlo Azar in One Last Sin. Yango Play

In the basement of a luxury Beirut hotel lies a grim secret – a fully fledged syndicate holding both the city and its own members captive.

At its centre is Safi, the kingpin and hotel owner, who keeps his vengeful brother Ziad locked in one of the rooms, while his daughter Karma grows increasingly rebellious under his iron grip. Upstairs, Hesham, an unassuming hotel waiter, is making a quiet play of his own in trying to ingratiate himself into the family to uncover the whereabouts of his missing sister.

These threads unfold across the 45-episode series One Last Sin, now streaming on Yango Play. It is a fiery Levant drama with a strong ensemble cast, led by Syrian stars Samer Ismail and Rasha Bilal, alongside Lebanese actor and singer Remie Akl.

"The story itself is different, layered and rich in meaning," Ismail, who plays Hisham, tells The National. "There are multiple plot lines that intersect in a really thrilling way. As an actor, that makes it exciting to dive into. As for the audience, it's the kind of drama that keeps you hooked, eager to see what happens next."

At the centre of much of that tension is Karma, played by Akl, who teeters between loyalty and revolt.

"When I read the script, I realised the story is really more deeper than just betrayal," she says. "It points to a deeper social issue on how we handle betrayal between siblings and that is something many deal with."

The most complex role falls to Bilal as Ruby, Karma's childhood friend and someone who knows more about the family's secrets than she lets on. It was a difficult shoot, Bilal admits, saying it took time to navigate the character’s stormy emotional terrain. Ruby often projects strength through restraint. "I had a lot of discussions with the director and screenwriter until we found a formula that allowed the character to communicate in the best possible way," she says.

For Ismail, no stranger to morally ambiguous roles in shows such as Al Ameel and Kaser Adem, One Last Sin reflects an emerging trend driven by the rise of streaming platforms such as Yango Play, toward telling more multidimensional stories with the audience in mind. "I do feel it is a really interesting time," he says. "Arabic drama, whether Syrian, Lebanese or Egyptian, is richer. We now have scripts and an industry that are globally competitive, because they are original and they tell our stories."

That newfound depth is reflected in the casting of Akl, best known as a spoken word artist, whose blistering social media monologues tackle urgent issues in Lebanese society. Her role in One Last Sin follows appearances in the Lebanese film Very Big Shot (2015) and the 2018 Egyptian drama Poisonous Roses. "I used to post stories on social media every day," she says. "But this felt different. I felt the role on an existential level. It felt like I was meant to take it on. The script gave the character a real sense of pride and dignity."

Ismail agrees that the most memorable Arabic dramas draw their power from uncovering truth in extreme situations. While One Last Sin unfolds in the confines of a hotel basement, its ambitions are much broader. "What we are really exploring here is temptation," he says. "The struggle between good and evil comes down to how a person resists their desires and tries to preserve their integrity."

One Last Sin is now streaming on Yango Play