‘Eagles Of The Republic’ review: Tarik Saleh reunites with Fares Fares to end his Cairo trilogy

Dir/scr: Tarik Saleh. Sweden/France/Denmark. 2025. 128mins

The first two instalments of Tarik Saleh’s politically-charged ‘Cairo trilogy’ were despairing examinations of the corruption and paranoia coursing through Egyptian society. The writer-director sharpens his knife for the final chapter, which casts a harsh light on a principled actor pressured into making a film for the regime, discovering how easy it is to compromise his beliefs. Tauter than its predecessors, and brandishing a sharp sense of humour, Eagles Of The Republic reunites Saleh with Fares Fares, the lead in the earlier pictures, to mock film industry egos while delivering a chilling commentary about a tyrannical government which imposes its will both through media propaganda and deadly force.

 A darkly amusing look at a dysfunctional film shoot which becomes a terse thriller 

The second film in the trilogy, 2022’s Boy From Heaven (also known as Cairo Conspiracy) also premiered in Cannes Competition, where it won the Best Screenplay award, before being selected as Sweden’s official Oscar submission. (The first chapter, 2017’s The Nile Hilton Incident, won Sundance’s World Cinema Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic.) This new instalment starts as a darkly amusing look at a dysfunctional film shoot before becoming a terse thriller — a provocative mixture of genres that should attract buyers.

Fares plays George, an aging superstar nicknamed ’Pharaoh of the Screen’. Though privately critical of current Egyptian president Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi, he is recruited by the government to play the leader in a fawning biopic called ’The Will Of The People’. George wants no part of this hagiography but, after Al-Sisi’s men threaten George’s college-aged son, he realises he has no choice. (Viewers will not be surprised to learn that Saleh was ordered to leave Egypt in 2015 for being critical to the regime, something that clearly continues here.)

The trilogy’s previous chapters were more straightforward thrillers, so Eagles Of The Republic’s initial satirical bent proves to be a welcome change of pace. George may be beloved, but Saleh and Fares have no illusions about his failings. It’s clear this self-absorbed actor has been in his share of hacky pictures, like a sci-fi/action blockbuster hilariously titled The First Egyptian In Space. Plus, he’s the sort of over-the-hill star who has a young girlfriend, Donna (Lyna Khoudri), whom everybody assumes is his daughter. Quoting lines from his own movies when he’s trying to be heartfelt, and making a run to the store to buy viagra to keep up with his frisky lover, George is an amusingly vain fool.

Saleh also pokes fun at the regime’s attempts to make ’The Will Of The People’, especially the producers’ desire to render Al-Sisi as a handsome, charismatic figure. (The real president may be bald, but George is instructed that he must keep his beautiful dark hair.) But that comical skewering eventually gives way once Eagles Of The Republic hints at the insidious nature of this pathetic project. This comes through most forcefully in the mysterious man overseeing it, Dr. Manssour (Amr Waked), who calmly but menacingly informs George when he’s not portraying Al-Sisi to his satisfaction.

Fares is marvellous as George who, despite his objections to ’The Will Of The People’, decides to give the film his all. It’s an early indication of the character’s fatal flaw, which is his need to be loved – even if that means burnishing Al-Sisi’s image. George tries to use his newfound popularity among the regime to help friends who are in its crosshairs — such as his frequent co-star Rula (Cherien Dabis), who has been blacklisted. But once George gets seduced by his proximity to power, viewers may have difficulty determining whether his cheerful compliance is really a ruse.

Fares delivers a cutting portrait of wilful self-deception, giving us an empty vessel with no convictions who stupidly initiates a clandestine affair with Suzanne (Zineb Triki), the alluring wife of Egypt’s minister of defence.

Much of the creative team return from earlier chapters, and Eagles Of The Republic benefits from their skilful work. Pierre Aim’s cinematography and Roger Rosenberg’s production design highlight both the phoniness of movie sets and the lavish, sinister lairs where Egypt’s callous leaders reside. And composer Alexandre Desplat, a newcomer to this trilogy, provides a subdued score, nicely underlining how George’s experience echoes that of so many other would-be activists, who lose their spine once they are invited into a world of privilege and perks.