Criticism of ‘Conspiracy in Cairo’, ‘The name of the rose’ of the Egyptian state

A humble fisherman who arrives at the largest university for Islamic studies, Al-Azhar, finds himself involved in a conspiracy plot of lies upon witnessing the death of the Grand Imam and the beginning of the agonizing search for a successor. All this in a film that desperately fights to be ‘The Name of the Rose’ and, although he manages to demonstrate his influence while airing the sewers of the Egyptian state, the elongation of his narrative makes us long for more concise times. .

Winner of the Best Screenplay award at the last Cannes Festival, ‘Conspiracy in Cairo’ does mean a formal step forward in the cinema of Swedish director Tarik Saleh which, unlike in the street film ‘Confidential Cairo’ (2017), has decided to boast of good taste when it comes to immersing the public in an effective thriller –albeit somewhat insipid– about the clash of religious and political powers. His magnetic photography, and the good work of the irresistible Fares Fares, manage to neutralize the narrative repetition that makes the result not memorable.

For collectors of deadly estate intrigues in limited spaces

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DATA SHEET

Address: Tarik Saleh Distribution: Tawfeek Barhom, Fares Fares, Mehdi Dehbi, Mohammed Bakri, Makram Khoury Country: Sweden Year: 2022 Release date: 14–4-2023 Gender: Drama Script: Tarik Saleh Duration: 126 min.

Synopsis: Adam, the humble son of a fisherman, enters the prestigious Al-Azhar University in Cairo, the epicenter of the power of Sunni Islam. On the day classes start, the Grand Imam who runs the institution suddenly dies.