What a spectacular movie. The President’s Cake is just one of those heartwarming yet tragic movie that everyone needs to watch once every while. I’m actually finding it a bit hard to find the right words to put down. It’s like one of those things that is so beautiful that it’s hard to describe with words. Having read All the Shah’s Men, I’ve learned a bit about Iraqi politics and the United States involvement in the Middle East prior to Saddam Hussein’s reign of terror in which this movie takes place in. After a quick search, I also learned that while the movie itself isn’t based on a true story, it does revolve around true events as experienced by the director himself, mainly having to actually bake a cake to celebrate Saddam Hussein’s birthday and facing dire consequences if not completed.

This is really an emotional story, and it’s packed with such heartwarming scenes, yet interspersed also with tragic ones. I mean, come on—a little girl traveling in a city with a rooster strapped by her side, looking for ingredients to bake a cake? It will make you smile and root so hard for Lamia, Saeed, and Hindi. But of course, life is tough under an authoritarian regime, and here is where the movie highlights the hardship of a little girl just trying to acquire a few simple ingredients to bake a frigging cake for dear leader because she was forced to.

There’s not much else to discuss about this movie other than to go watch it yourself and just enjoy this magical piece of cinema. Well, I guess I do have to talk about the ending. In my opinion, there’s absolutely no question about it: both Saeed and Lamia do not survive the bombing raid. This is one of the few times when I actually don’t mind the director cutting to black, leaving the characters’ fate up in the air, because as soon as it cuts to black, we get to see actual footage of Saddam Hussein at a party celebrating his birthday. It highlights just how absurd his regime is. We see an enormous birthday cake made just for the occasion, while throughout the movie, his people are starving and without medical supplies due to sanctions. And, of course, there’s the absurdity of requiring poor children to bake a cake when they can hardly feed themselves.

The ending just hits so damn hard. 😭 😭 😭 The President’s Cake does such a magnificent job of portraying life in the 90’s living under Saddam Hussein. While so much is obviously horrific, the people’s lives must go on. There will always be the corrupt and lazy cops. There will always be the monster of human beings that will take advantage of anything and anyone in these types of situations. And yet there will always be the kindness offered by absolute strangers. The love of one’s family. The bickering and fighting, the regrets and ultimately, forgiveness. Bravo to this stunning achievement and everyone that was involved in making this movie happen.