Tarik Saleh’s Pseudo Comedian Political Thriller Is A Combined Bag

Movies about making transgressive artwork inside totalitarian regimes are a dime a dozen, however not as frequent are these about making artwork for a totalitarian regime. Eagles of the Republic, which concludes Swedish director Tarik Saleh’s loosely linked Cairo Trilogy, is a brash, darkly comedic thriller about simply that: contemplating the false hope of creative freedom when freedom is a mirage.

For George Fahmy (Fares Fares), freedom is, sarcastically, extra slippery the extra fame he acquires. A nationwide treasure (he has been dubbed “The Pharaoh of the Display screen” by his adoring followers), Fahmy appears largely unbothered by Egyptian President El-Sisi’s unchecked dictatorship. That’s, till his profession and his son, Ramy (Suhaib Neshwan), are threatened by secret police. Their aim is easy: to get the larger-than-life celeb to just accept a task in a nakedly propagandist biopic of El-Sisi’s rise to energy.

Eagles Of The Republic (Principally) Succeeds In Bleakly Humorous Portrayal Of State Energy

For the reason that Egyptian President’s overthrow of democratically elected Mohamed Morsi in 2013, El-Sisi has abused his management of army and safety companies to take care of energy. Nearly each subsequent election since he claimed the presidency has gone principally uncontested as a result of bare coercion, and subservience to the regime is assumed. For many of Saleh’s movie, this actuality is background noise to Fahmy’s blissful time within the highlight. He cavorts together with his much-younger girlfriend Donya (Lyna Khoudri) and is beloved by all.

At first, Fahmy’s capitulation to strain reads like promoting out. His son is very essential of him for working with the very individuals he despises. And Saleh emphasizes the awful comedy of the scenario by highlighting El-Sisi’s reportedly fragile ego; although the dictator is barely 5 ft tall and Fahmy is over six, the governmental workplace insists that the actor not put on any make-up that might intensify his apparent baldness or abdomen paunch.

However, because the movie continues into darker territory when the realities of this world grow to be extra current, Fahmy’s determination to reply the decision to “serve his nation” appears an increasing number of inevitable. His fame is a jail in a society that persistently makes individuals disappear (his contract for the propaganda movie features a be aware, cast in his handwriting, explaining his determination to commit suicide). A dedicated artist, Fahmy nonetheless tries laborious to make the movie passably good, however his efforts to inject a dose of realism into the proceedings are persistently kneecapped by the shadowy Dr. Manssour (Amr Waked), who has, seemingly, tapped Fahmy’s house.

A lot of the movie’s tonal shifts do not fully work, and it is overlong and overcooked. There are massive swaths of the runtime that drag incessantly, repetitious as they’re in speaking simply how scary it have to be on this surroundings. Aspect characters, like Fahmy’s former scene companion Rula (Cherien Dabis), should not served notably effectively by the movie’s meandering plotting. Fahmy’s eventual affair with Suzanne (Zineb Triki), the spouse of the Minister of Protection, just isn’t given the load it deserves.

At its greatest, Eagles of The Republic is a robust reminder that nobody escapes political participation. There could also be no straightforward method out for Fahmy as soon as he reaches this plateau, however he’s solely on this place within the first place due to a profession spent, sarcastically, hiding within the margins of social participation. The movie would’ve been higher served had it caught to both satire or tense drama, however regardless of the case, the climax of Saleh’s movie is aces and as taut as may be.

It’s tempting to name the movie cynical contemplating the black pit of despair it inevitably places Fahmy in, however Saleh cogently makes an argument for leaning into mates, household, and neighborhood as a substitute of searching for assist from the very best levers of energy. There isn’t any interesting to the state, definitely not one as ruthless as this, even should you’re such a preferred actor that the person beating you down admires you a lot he needs you to play him.

Eagles of the Republic screened on the 2025 AFI Movie Competition.