Cairo Conspiracy

A fisherman’s son is offered a place at a prestigious Islamic school in Cairo and finds himself drawn into a religious and political power struggle.

Anyone familiar with Tarik Saleh’s 2017 political drama The Nile Hilton Incident will have some idea of what to expect: a subtle character piece that hits all the beats of an intense conspiracy thriller. It starts when Adam, a fisherman’s son, receives a scholarship to a prestigious Cairo university. His family sees it as a divine gift, but Adam’s fortune sours when the school’s Grand Imam dies.

Fearing a hardline replacement, the government tasks secret serviceman Colonel Ibrahim (Fares Fares) with recruiting a spy, which is how Adam finds himself caught between a rock and hard place in a film that shows how the politicisation of religion – and vice versa – is the great poison of our times.