Nordic Watchlist caught Tarik Saleh’s Eagles of the Republic at this year’s Glasgow Film Festival and share their review.
Tarik Saleh’s Eagles of the Republic is a gripping, dust‑choked descent into the uneasy marriage of art and authoritarianism. Set in a nation still reeling from political upheaval, the film follows Egypt’s most celebrated actor as he becomes an unwilling pawn in a regime determined to rewrite both history and his own identity.
What begins as a story of celebrity vanity quickly spirals into a tense, paranoid thriller where every conversation feels bugged and every smile rehearsed. Saleh invites us into a world where creativity is a liability, truth is malleable, and survival depends on how convincingly one can perform loyalty. It’s a film that asks not only what freedom costs, but who is allowed to pay the price.
The film centres around George Fahmy (Fares Fares), known as “The Pharaoh of the Screen”. His career is increasingly under scrutiny as a new regime settles into power. His image must be entirely remade – he must attend church, he cannot be seen with his new, younger girlfriend, and he cannot play the same characters he always has.
With the threat of permanent unemployment and prison time for his son, he is forced into making a propaganda film about the life of the new President. Whilst undertaking the role, he is plunged into a series of dark events, including sabotage, espionage and murder. Can art and patriotism co-exist?
Co-writer and director Tarik Saleh bathes the film in a sepia hue, as if the dust of the military coup has barely settled. There’s a constant air of paranoia and panic; at any moment, it could be your turn to be “asked” into a shiny black car, never to be seen again.
There is no trust between acquaintances old and new, for fear of saying the wrong thing and accidentally antagonising the regime. The humourless censorship board admonishes George for both his lifestyle and his performances. There is a distinct divide between the liberties of the ruling class and the oppression of ordinary citizens. Against a backdrop like this, who can truly be free to create?
Fares Fares gives a career-best performance here. At the start of the film, we meet a man simply rippling with arrogance. He cannot be bothered sending his son a birthday message, instead dispatching his assistant to do so. He is obsessed with the fame that his career has brought him and, of course, the trappings of wealth. He is sharp-suited, with a dazzling young girlfriend who is desperate to further her own career.
By the end of the film, we see a man entirely broken. His disillusionment with the very system that once put him on a pedestal is written all over his tear- and dust-stained face. His faith in humanity is broken; he has tasted fear on an unbearable scale. He realises that his star power is every bit as illusory as the democracy he has promoted.
Tarik Saleh, along with co-writer Magdi Abdelhadi, asks us as viewers to consider the art we consume. Cinema has long been used as a tool for propaganda, and Eagles of the Republic reminds us that any art form can be manipulated. “We say words that are written for us and experience feelings that have been dictated to us,” a weary George sighs.
Is he talking about his acting career or life under the new regime? Because everything in this film is a performance – from the cheering crowds to the loyalty of those in uniform. There is an increasing sense of powerlessness not just for George, but for everyone in Egypt. You are never in control of your own destiny – that will be decided for you by men in suits, talking in rooms. It’s really hard-hitting messaging, underlined by some utterly shocking moments of brutality.
By the time the credits roll, Eagles of the Republic has tightened its grip to the point of breathlessness. The escalating violence and conspiracy may well leave you in stunned silence, but it’s the film’s final moments – ambiguous, fragile and steeped in dread – that linger longest. Saleh refuses the comfort of resolution, instead leaving us suspended in the same uncertainty that engulfs his characters. In a story where every truth is staged and every gesture surveilled, the lack of a clear ending feels like the only honest one.
“Tarik Saleh’s Eagles of the Republic is a gripping, dust‑choked descent into the uneasy marriage of art and authoritarianism“.
Nordic Watchlist previewed Eagles of the Republic at Glasgow Film Festival, the film will get its UK release through Curzon from the 13th March.