Shame Worse Than Death (Elli Ekhtasho Mato)

By Shannon MacColl

The short:

Seven women living in a women-only motel in Cairo must each face the realities of their families and the misogynistic world they live in to reclaim their lives.

The long:

Seven women: Leyl, Safeya, Koky, Biro, Walaa, Semsem, and Amany live-in Safeya’s motel or boarding house for various reasons, most of which revolve around the misogyny they face in their daily lives. Overwhelmingly, their stories are tragic, Leyl was jailed for drug possession and taken from her husband and daughter, Safeya lost the love of her life, Koky performs sex work to survive, Biro attempts to become an actress without having to sleep with men to get worthwhile roles, Walaa a working woman unable to marry, Semsem an orphan from the country, and Amany who left her family to marry a man but as a result brought dishonor to their name. The film mostly follows Leyl’s journey after release from prison to find and reunite with her husband and daughter. Unfortunately, men in the area are unhappy with this group of women existing together and set up a plan to have them arrested on prostitution charges. They are thankfully released and found innocent. However, they seek retribution on the men who they believe set them up. The twist comes when Leyl and Biro are convicted of killing one of the men (which they did not do), only for the police to realize months later that Koky along with Leyl’s ex-husband set them up to take the fall for financial gain. They are freed and reunited together along with Leyl’s daughter in a big mansion they share together.

To watch or not to watch?

Don’t watch it. The plotlines within the movie are too chaotic and as such are never neatly tied together. Characters are randomly introduced only for them to have two minutes of dialogue and then disappear. While a more favorable viewing of the justice system in Egypt and ultimately, of the independence of these women, the film still harbors some harmful views of women which benefit no one.