Private Alexandria

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.

Just watched the movie today and I have to say that I haven't seen such a good Eygptian movie in a very very long time. The rise of cheap comedy movies in recent years made me almost lose hope that we will ever watch something decent and well done. However, after watching Malkaky Iskendereya tonight, I was so impressed by the excellent direction of Sandra Nashaat and the amazing work by young actors and actresses who have been constantly contained in silly roles that hardly brought out whatever talent they possessed. Nour and Ghada Adel were exceptionally good..I honestly never saw Ghada as a good actress but once she was given a proper role to play, she shined! The photography was so adequate to the movie's plot and setting. Overall, this is a must see movie and a classic! Hoping to see more of these well directed/written/acted movies in the cinemas in the recent future.

What makes this movie really unique is being different; different in its directing, acting, & most of all: its plot. Though the story is simple, its new & full of surprises. The story is about the murder of a rich man & his wife becomes the prime suspect. She seeks help from a handsome lawyer, who is enchanted by her & tries to prove her innocence by all means. Sandra, the director, really shines in this movie & proves that young age was never an obstacle for great talent. She takes hold of all her tools including her actors. Ahmad Ezz establishes himself as a very good actor & not just a pretty face. His acting was so natural & so convincing. Nour was one of the movie's surprises; she was totally different from the image of the sweet girl. Her effort to bring out this character so perfect is obvious in her make up & clothes. As for Khaled Saleh, he continues to amuse us more & more every movie. It was also a very successful step for Muhammad Ragab & Mahmoud Abdel Mogney. Finally, Ghada Adel needed to stop crying for a while so we can judge her acting, still she was kinda good and Reham was typical in the beautiful nice girl. With all this cast & all that action & suspense..this film is worth watching, & i saw it twice !

I think that this film is the best so far! Ahmed Ezz is too cute and he is the thing that made this film to shine! Ghada my favorite actress and Nour, in this film have acted too well and this what makes this movie very nice, and it is the best detective movie in my opinion. When i first saw this movie, i was concentrating to make sure that i understand, and i was also focusing on Ahmed Ezz's handsome looks! The film of Private Alexandria, like i have to say again, is the best movie to exist........(detective stories) So i wish that producers come up with movies like that in Egypt because this movie was very good, thats why i gave Ito a rating 10!!!!!!!!!!!

one of the best crime investigation thrillers ever made in Egypt and internationally too ,very good plot of a murder investigation, the acting ,the music, the plot, the photography, and the directing say thats an astonishing movie.its a new line and a new addition for the new good wave in Egyptian movie industry, every actor has done the best in his role ,also the plot is very good and nobody will ever figure out who's the murderer until the last second.it also reveals a new side that hasn't been discovered in every actor in the movie,specially Ahmad ezz (the lead actor) and also Khalid saleh (supporting actor) and let you know that the actor "nour" (supporting actress) is not only a pretty face.also the graphic effects are used very well in the movie that was directed by Sandra who outcomes herself in that movie which came really better than her last two movies "harameya Fe kj2" and harameya Fe Thailand" though they were good two.