Cairo Conspiracy

Adam, the son of a fisherman, receives a scholarship to Al-Azhar University in Cairo, the centre of Sunni Muslim authority. Soon after he arrives, the institution's Grand Imam dies, leaving its most senior religious position vacant, and Adam is drawn into the contest over who will succeed him. Egypt's religious and political elites each back their own candidate, and the security officer Ibrahim recruits Adam as an informant inside the university, placing the student between competing factions at considerable personal risk.

Tarik Saleh wrote and directed the film, which followed his The Nile Hilton Incident and The Contractor and came before Eagles of the Republic. Tawfeek Barhom plays Adam, with Fares Fares as Ibrahim, and Mohammad Bakri, Makram J. Khoury, Mehdi Dehbi and Younes Medhat in supporting roles. Kristina Åberg and Fredrik Zander produced the Danish, Finnish, French and Swedish co-production, made for about 7 million dollars and taking roughly 4 million dollars worldwide.

Audience responses are moderate and closely aligned: on IMDb the film holds 6.9 out of 10 from around 9,400 votes, and on TMDB 6.8 out of 10 from roughly 300 votes. A critics' rating of 7.4 out of 10 from 48 reviews places professional assessment somewhat above those audience scores. Running 121 minutes, the film is a drama and thriller set amid the institutions of Egyptian religious and political power.