‘Conspiracy in Cairo’
Rating: ★★★★
Director: Tarik Salih
Cast: Tawfeek Barhom, Fares Fares, Mohammad Bakri, Makram Khouri
Year: 2022
In this new drama from Egyptian-Swedish filmmaker Tarik Saleh, the film situates a tense espionage tale inside a richly textured political landscape, yet it leans toward a conventional thriller rather than fully exploiting its suggestive backdrop. The story follows a young newcomer who arrives in Turkey, as Al-Azhar—arguably the most significant center of Islamic learning and a major pillar of Sunni authority—becomes a focal point for manipulation, secrecy, and power struggles. The film probes the friction between the state apparatus and religious leadership within the Islamic world, presenting a setting frequently described as a battleground where political calculations collide with spiritual language.
Overall, the movie sketches a brisk, sometimes gritty portrait of both religious and secular Egyptian officials. It emphasizes that Islam itself is not culpable for abuses carried out in its name. Yet the religious rhetoric largely serves as a window dressing for a thriller built around a familiar archetype: a naive, compliant young man who becomes the target of various factions, only to reveal resilience and cleverness when the moment calls for it. Tarik Saleh stages the complex architecture of Al-Azhar with notable atmosphere and claustrophobic tension, yet the pacing and character development sometimes miss chances to deepen the emotional logic that drives the plot. The result is a film that looks intent on exploring big ideas, but occasionally slips into predictable beat patterns and a too-easy resolution.
What shines through is the film’s keen sense of place. The environment—its corridors, courtyards, and decidely political interiors—becomes almost a character in its own right. The performances anchor the storytelling, offering quiet intensity and credibility to scenes that demand restraint. While the narrative occasionally relies on familiar twists, the director’s eye for space and mood keeps the viewer engaged. At its core, the work invites reflection on how authority is exercised, who gets to speak for faith, and how information is controlled in a society where religion and state anxiously watch each other. The film thus stands as a thoughtful, if imperfect, contribution to conversations about power, belief, and the human costs of political maneuvering within strong religious traditions.