Support for Zaki has come from Egypt’s actors union, which has responded for calls on social media for the star to be expelled from the organization. Another scene that’s been sparking debate is one in which a young woman named Maryam, played by Zaki, takes off her underwear, under a table, without any skin being shown. This aspect of the story, which is sensitive for parts of West Asia, has been kept intact in the Arabic redo.
The narrative quickly unfolds into an uncharted path of secrets that reveals more than what they wish to share, including that one of the characters is gay. Just like the original, the long-gestating Arabic “Perfect Strangers” adaptation is a tale of seven close friends who get together for dinner and decide to play a game involving placing their cell phones on the dinner table, and agreeing to openly share every call, text and voice message as it comes. 20 in 190 countries and has immediately become locally explosive.
The movie is directed by Lebanese first-time director Wissam Smayra and features a high-caliber pan-Arabic ensemble cast comprising Lebanese multi-hyphenate Nadine Labaki, Egyptian star Mona Zaki and Jordan’s Eyad Nassar.