Cairo, 2011; a young singer is found murdered in a hotel room and a police officer, Major Noredin Mustafa (Fares Fares), looks into the case that turns out to have connections to friends of the President’s.

An international thriller that’s inspired by a real-life murder case, but it’s also set just a few days before the outbreak of the Arab Spring protests in the Tahrir Square that toppled Mubarak’s regime. Tarik Saleh aims to portray ordinary people who are trying to survive in an absurdly corrupt system; focus lies not on pure thrills, but a documentary-like approach, with middling results.

Fares is good as the chain-smoking cop.

2017-Sweden-Denmark-Germany-Morocco-France. 106 min. Color. Widescreen. Written and directed by Tarik Saleh. Production Design: Roger Rosenberg. Costume Design: Louize Nissen. Cast: Fares Fares (Noredin Mustafa), Mari Malek (Salwa), Yasser Ali Maher (Kammal Mustafa), Ahmed Selim, Mohamed Yousry, Slimane Dazi. 

Trivia: Co-executive produced by Fares and Saleh. The first film in a trilogy also consisting of Boy from Heaven (2022) and Eagles of the Republic (2025).

Guldbagge Awards: Best Film, Actor (Fares), Production Design, Costume Design, Sound.