This harrowing state-of-the-nation drama from Egyptian director Mohamed Diab puts the viewer inside a police van during the violent protests in 2013 after the military toppled the Muslim Brotherhood government of Mohamed Morsi. There’s such turmoil on the streets, it’s not long before this mobile holding pen is filled to bursting, with demonstrators both pro and against Morsi, and a couple of journalists viewed with contempt by both sides.
Men and women, poor and well-to-do – a wide spectrum of society is represented, and they’re all in for a day from hell, at the mercy of ruthless law enforcement, the baking heat, stray gunshots and rock-hurling. Technically, the film’s sheer bravura is breathtaking, from the mayhem outside, to the brilliant camerawork inside a sweaty, confined interior. The story is fictional, yet it builds up a chastening picture of divisive separate political and religious agendas holding sway over common humanity, and leading the country deeper into chaos. A striking, tough-minded achievement.