Young Adam (Tawfeek Barhom), the son of a fisherman, goes to the prestigious Al-Azhar University in Cairo to study, but is soon drawn into a murder investigation.

The director’s best film to date is a political thriller depicting a power struggle that begins after the sudden death of the university’s Grand Imam. The story is informed by the competition between Egypt’s autocratic, secular regime and the nation’s Sunni establishment (as well as internal religious disagreements).

As in the case of Tarik Saleh’s The Nile Hilton Incident (2017), there is no great emotional payoff, but it’s interesting, sharp and well acted, with Fares Fares the standout. 

2022-Sweden-Denmark-Finland-France. 126 min. Color. Widescreen. Written and directed by Tarik Saleh. Cast: Tawfeek Barhom (Adam), Fares Fares (Ibrahim), Mohammed Bakri (General Al Sakran), Makram Khoury, Mehdi Dehbi, Moe Ayoub. 

Trivia: Co-executive produced by Fares and Saleh. Released in the U.S. as Cairo Conspiracy. Part of a trilogy also consisting of The Nile Hilton Incident (2017) and Eagles of the Republic (2025).

Cannes: Best Screenplay. Guldbagge Award: Best Screenplay.

Last word: “I worked with imams, when it came to the script. I tried the script on imams and discussed the theological arguments in it to make sure, because it wasn’t my intention to provoke. I see myself as a filmmaker who just wants to tell stories truthfully, and I think that if the truth is going to be painful, which it will be for some people – but it’s more for political reasons than for religious reasons – then so be it.” (Saleh, Variety)