The Definitive Guide to Living in the Capital , Cairo , Egypt

This week, we have three new films in Cairo’s cinemas, each offering a very distinctive watch – we have a quirky sci-fi thriller and an animated animal sequel, but we begin with what could potentially be the scariest, most spine-tingling, nightmare-inducing film of the year…  

It

What’s it About? The adaptation of Stephen King’s endlessly creepy 1986 novel, It, tells of a group of children who band together to take down an evil being – which appears in the form of a clown – who has been terrorizing kids by exploiting their fears and phobias.

Why it Might Be Good: Anyone whose childhood was scarred by the 1990 miniseries adaptation of the novel will know that Pennywise is a truly horrific creation. But the key to this film working is maintaining King’s themes of friendship and irrational childhood fears intact – and early reviews suggest that it manages to do exactly that, rather than rely on jump-scares and whatnot.

Why it Might Be Bad: When it comes to Stephen King adaptations, you never really know what you’re going to get; The Shawshank Redemption, Carrie and The Shining are example of great adaptations, but then there have been stinkers like The Mist, Cell and, most recently, The Dark Tower. Fingers crossed.

What Happened to Monday

What’s it About? Also known as Seven Sisters, this dystopian sci-fi thriller is set in a world where couples are only permitted to have one child and follows a set of concealed septuplets – each one named after one day of the week – as they go on the search for one of the missing sisters, Monday.

Why it Might Be Good: The premise of What Happened to Monday is rather intriguing; in order to hide their existence, the septuplets – all played by Noomi Rapace – take turns in essentially living the life of one identity, while a supporting cast of Willem Dafoe and Glenn Close is not to be scoffed at.

Why it Might Be Bad: In addition to being released in cinemas, part of the film’s distribution rights have been sold to Netflix and it’s been on the streaming service since mid-August. Unfortunately, reviews have been pretty damning, with one calling it a “ludicrous, violent, amusingly dumb sci-fi actioner.” Don’t expect this to provide any kind of intelligent sociology commentary.

The Nut Job 2: Nutty by Nature

What’s it About? After the nut-store-ransacking events of the first film, The Nut Job 2 sees the animals of Liberty Park band together to stop the fictional town of Oaktan City’s corrupt mayor from building a potentially dangerous and cheaply-made amusement park over their home.

Why it Might Be Good: There might not be any elite A-listers on the cast, but the likes of Will Arnett, Maya Rudolph and Katherine Heigl all did an efficient job in the first movie. Despite losing Brendan Fraser and Liam Neeson, the sequel does have Jackie Chan on board.

Why it Might Be Bad: Well, because the first one was truly awful, despite doing fairly well at the box office. There doesn’t seem to be anything original introduced into the sequel and the plot read like tens of plots before it. This clearly lacks the depths of Toy Story or Ratatouille, focusing more on a frenetic pace and loud, bright everything. This is one strictly for the kids.

 To find out where and when you can catch these films in the capital, check out the Cairo 360 Cinema Guide.