An acting professor discovers his own life was the performance all along.
Mahmoud is a professor of acting, who lives an isolated life, a shift in his personality occurs when he discovers the betrayal of his wife with a young man, and meets a young actress who tries to make him live a different life.
Acting
Mahmoud Hemida's controlled unraveling is masterclass-level.
Direction
Abu Zekry frames Cairo as claustrophobic theater.
Writing
Meta-commentary on acting that actually lands emotionally.
Director
Kamla Abu Zekry
Mahmoud Hemida
Doctor Mahmoud Abdel Salam
Hend Sabry
Hind
Khaled Abol Naga
Tareq
Lotfy Labib
Abdo Abdel Aal
Mohamed Khan
Himself
Aaidah Riyadh
Suad
Randa El Behairy
Nahed
Haidy Karam
Mariam
Sherif Mohsen
Alaa
Nabil Issa
Hisham Mustafa
Yasser El Tobgy
Ashraf Amin
Husam
Khairy Beshara
Himself
Tarek El Tilmisany
Himself
Yara Goubran
Yara
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Part of the 2000s Egyptian New Wave that revitalized Arab cinema after years of commercial stagnation.
Hend Sabry was only 25 playing opposite Hemida's 55; their real age gap mirrors the film's uncomfortable power dynamics.
EG
