Starring Karim Mahmoud Abdel Aziz, Asma Abulyazeid, Eyad Nassar and Salah Abdalla

Written and directed by Peter Mimi

Yahia (Karim Mahmoud Abdel Aziz) is a brilliant engineering student who lives with his father. When he’s forced to stand by as his father is killed, Yahia vows revenge and creates Mousa, a remote controlled robot, to extract vengeance. Aided by colleague Rieka (Asmaa Abulyazeid) he becomes a folk hero. But the criminals of the city are in more control than he thinks.

Written and directed by Peter Amri and released on Netflix UK with no fanfare whatsoever, Mousa is being touted as the first movie of its kind in Egypt and it’s a great start. Amri writes in a manner that reminded me of classic early ’00s technothrillers. The science is forward enough to give it an air of reality but the story is fantastical enough to mark it out as science fiction.

The best example of the unique style this gives the movie is in how Mousa is deployed. Yahia drives it remotely while ally Rieka (the excellent and underused Abulyazeid) drives him. Its low-tech high tech, Iron Man reimagined with no budget and a lot more social awkwardness. That leads to some tremendously fun special effects sequences too. The highlight is a train rescue that makes a lot out of how hard Mousa actually is to damage and the realities of how it’s operated. The structure speaks to this too; opening with the identity of Mousa made public and catching up to that at the top of act three.

It’s tight, tense fun stuff and it’s only slightly let down by some off the shelf choices. Yahia being a socially awkward engineer is the lowest hanging fruit possible, and the movie gives its female characters precious little to do. The cast are all excellent and the dynamic between Aziz and Abulyazeid is excellent. But there’s not quite enough of any of them.

Verdict: That’s a very minor quibble though. Otherwise, Mousa is an intense, confidence piece of street level cyberpunk and one that bodes very well for Amri’s other work. 8/10

Alasdair Stuart

 

Mousa is on Netflix now. The Fourth Pyramid, Amri’s other movie set in this world, does not currently have a UK release.