Exterior/Night

Ahmad Abdalla's 2018 Egyptian film takes place across a single night. A filmmaker whose affairs are going wrong, an actress and a driver ride through Cairo in the same car, and an unplanned night turns step by step into something else. The interest is class. Though the three share a car, their relations with the city are entirely separate; a police checkpoint, a hotel entrance and a nightclub door each mean something different to each of them. The narrative builds no plot. The scenes are long, the dialogue close to improvised, and the camera rarely leaves the inside of the car. Karim Kassem and Mona Hala take the principal roles. Who it's for: those who like Egyptian independent cinema and narratives set over one night. Who it's not for: viewers expecting a story tied to a conclusion; the film ends when morning comes rather than resolving.