Malaki Iskandariya is the first Egyptian thriller in ages, and fortunately it's a well made one.
Malaki Iskandariya tells the story of a young wife ( Ghada Adel ), who's convicted of murdering her older husband ( Khaled Zaki ). Her lawyer ( Ahmed Ezz ) believes she's innocent, and to to find the truth, he must get closer to the son ( Mohamed Ragab ) & daughter ( Riham Abd ElGhafour ), of the murdered husband, as well as to his beautiful secretary ( Nour ).
A good thriller is the one that keeps the audience guessing and thinking, trying to solve the mystery. Malaki Iskandariya is one of those thrillers. It started out slow, but after that it picked up, giving the audience clues and hints along the way.
One of the best things about the movie is that it changed the way I watch Egyptian movies. In the past few years, I was watching the Egyptian movies without paying any attention, I was just waiting for the next joke. That's not the case here. I started watching the movie just like any other Egyptian movie, and then halfway I found out that if I don't pay attention, I won't be able to follow the plot.
The acting was good in the movie. I liked the fact that Sandra ( the director ) mostly chose actresses known for their mediocre performances ( Nour and Ghada Adel ), and gave them important roles. In my opinion, both actresses gave the best performances of their careers, especially Nour.
Sandra's directing was good, but I have to say that she used her 'hip' & 'cool' directing tricks very much. For example, slow motion was used about 15 times in the first 20 minutes, and that is too much. Also the way the camera moved in some scenes really got on my nerves. Anyway, I think Sandra did that to differentiate herself from the other directors.
So, overall I recommend watching Malaki Iskandariya, movies like these are rarely made these days.
