After a thriving Ramadan television season packed with exceptional shows, the Eid film season is offering comedies like Negoum Al-Sahel (North Coast Stars), Al-Safa Thanaweya Banat (Al-Safa High School for Girls) and Faar Bi Sabaa Arwah (A Rat with Seven Lives), the latter directed by Shadi Ali and starring Mohamed Lotfi and Suleiman Eid. Directed by Raouf Al-Sayed and starring Ahmed Dash, Mayan Al-Sayed and Ali Sobhi, Negoum Al-Sahel is romantic comedy set in the North Coast. Al-Safa Thanaweya Banat (Al-Safa High School for Girls), directed by Amr Salah and starring Ali Rabei, Mohamed Tharwat and Bayoumi Fouad, is about a young male teacher who has issues dealing with women appointed to a girls’ school.
But the box office sensation, with revenues that have crossed the LE 50 million mark in a few days, is Siko Siko (a term for something you don’t wish to spell out, usually sex, but here it refers to drugs). It features Essam Omar and Taha Al-Dessouki, who starred in the Ramadan TV series Welad Al-Shams (Sons of the Sun) Nos Al-Shaab Esmo Mohamed (Half the Population Named Mohamed), respectively. Omar is also known for the indie hit Seeking Haven for Mr. Rambo. He also starred in Nadine Khan’s series Massar Egbari (Ahead Only) last year, which featured a similar theme revolving around two brothers (the other played by Ahmed Dash) who meet for the first time at their father’s deathbed.
Siko Siko focuses on the reunion of two cousins: Selim Al-Beheiry (Taha Al-Dessouki) and Yehia Al-Beheiry (Essam Omar) at the lawyer’s office following their estranged uncle’s death, which leaves them with an inheritance of up to LE15 million. Trying to resolve past differences in order to divide the money, they soon realise that what they are left with is not cash but drugs.
The film is divided into chapters of varying lengths, showing the changes in the lives and ambitions of the two young men. Selim has a video game project he is trying to market, but he faces difficulties in finding a sponsor or even enthusiasm among his own friends, who kick him out of the apartment he shares with them when he is unable to pay the rent. Meanwhile Yehia is struggling to find a job, failing to adapt to different work environments as he often ends up assaulting his managers for various reasons, which leads to him leaving the job after a short while; he currently works at a shipping company.
However, circumstances push Yehia and Selim together to accept the challenge and embark on an adventure selling the drugs left to them by their uncle. This decision places them in many difficult comic situations due to their lack of experience in the field. At the same time, their new drug-selling activities negatively impact their personal lives, especially their romantic relationships.
Selim is attached to his university colleague Ghada (Diana Hisham) but their love has suffered from his lack of financial means; now he knows he will be a wealthy man, he decides to meet her parents. As luck would have it, Ghada’s father is Wael Al-Kordy (Bassem Samra), one of the top figures in the drug enforcement department of the police. At the same time things quickly become complicated when a gang leader appears – played by Khaled Al-Sawi – claiming his right to the drugs they are trying to sell and trying to kill them.
The screenplay utilises the Selim’s storyline involving the video game he created and how they started to take advantage of that game as a tool to sell the drugs online. This element is cleverly woven into the drug-dealing plot. Yehia’s connection to his drug dealer Al-Wensh (played by the brilliant Ali Sobhi), introduces them to a powerful drug lord, Abu Leila (played by Mahmoud Azab), who may be able to assist them. This culminates in a hilarious scene showing how Yehia makes use of the shipping company he works for as the base for their new business, taking advantage of the delivery motorcycles and the computers right after the normal work day.
The film, directed by Omar Al-Mohandes with a screenplay by Mohamed Al-Dabah, successfully creates a genuine story that derives its comedic situations from its own narrative. Featuring the talents of Al-Dessouki and Omar, the film effectively utilises every subplot, but it is their own charisma that arguably makes it such a success.
* A version of this article appears in print in the 10 April, 2025 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly
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