tech
February 11, 2026
The President's Cake review
Nine-year-old Lamia is obliged by her school to make a birthday cake for the Iraqi president, and meets a series of vivid characters as she shops for sanctioned ingredients
TL;DR
- The film is a Bake Off-style adventure about a young girl in early-90s Iraq.
- Lamia is required by her school to make a birthday cake for Saddam Hussein.
- Sanctions make it difficult to find cake-making ingredients.
- Lamia's journey to find ingredients involves her grandmother, her friend Saeed, and various vivid characters.
- The film portrays the pervasive presence of Saddam Hussein's image and demonstrations.
- A scene involves a man blinded by an American bomb, highlighting the wartime context.
- The cake-tasting serves as an important climax.
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