OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies

In 1955 Cairo, French secret agent Hubert Bonisseur de La Bath, known as OSS 117, arrives in a city crowded with spies. The French president sends him to restore order and carry out a secret mission amid competing French, British and Soviet agents, supporters of the deposed King Farouk, and a religious sect, the Eagles of Cheops. The premise and the main conflict come from OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies, a French spy comedy directed by Michel Hazanavicius. Its spies, schemers and assorted intriguers keep the plot moving while the film leans on the gap between Hubert's confidence and his competence.

The film marked Hazanavicius's directorial debut and precedes his later features. It stars Jean Dujardin, Bérénice Bejo, Aure Atika, Philippe Lefebvre, Constantin Alexandrov and Saïd Amadis. Eric Altmayer and Nicolas Altmayer produced it.

Released in 2006, the film had a budget of 15 million USD and earned 23 million USD worldwide. On IMDb it holds 7/10 from 25,000 votes, and on TMDB 7.2/10 from 1,905 votes. That is consistent with a popular comedy rather than a niche one, since a relatively modest budget was matched by wider theatrical turnout. The critics' rating of 6.8/10 from 63 reviews is slightly below the audience scores, suggesting that viewers responded more warmly than reviewers did.