Complaint No. 713317

Retired couple Magdy and Sama just want a quiet life, which unravels when their fridge breaks down. Their Cairo flat becomes a stage where gender roles, love and ageing are laid bare against absurd bureaucracy. In this maze, will they find each other again?

What should be a simple appliance repair for Magdy and Sama spirals into a months-long battle with a corrupt maintenance company. In their Maadi flat, old attitudes and value systems crumble, within and without. As they ease into retirement, Magdy and Sama must confront the inevitability of loss and grapple with the paradox of letting go.

Absurd and deadpan, Complaint No. 713317 stars icons of Egyptian cinema and theatre, Mahmoud Hemeida and Sherine, whose tender performances anchor this layered portrait of ageing and love. Caught in the grip of economic duress, the couple embody an eroding Egyptian middle class struggling to make ends meet. 

In his debut feature, Yasser Shafie crafts a slow-burning drama that questions patriarchy and the fear of vulnerability. Magdy, set in his ways, insists on control, even as everything – from appliances to the body – begins to fail. Throughout, he challenges us to consider how we might transform as we grow older. 

– Reman Sadani

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

•