M, 119 minutes
4 stars
Review by © Jane Freebury
Seeing a defendant seated in a steel cage in court is an image that is hard to erase. The degrading circumstances in which three journalists, including the Australian Peter Greste, went on trial in Egypt during 2013-15 were chilling.
Greste was working from the Marriott, filling in for a colleague over the Christmas break when arrested. If the authorities who locked him up still held the key, then they were in for the long game, like a cat playing with its prey.
The plight of the Australian charged with being an agent of terrorism and a ‘master conspirator’ is common knowledge. Thankfully Greste was suddenly returned to Australia after 400 days in prison, though another three years were slapped on his sentence in absentia.
A chilling demonstration of the critical importance of a free press
In recent years, Greste has been able to recover his life and find a new career while his face and soft voice are still closely identified with the ongoing struggle around the world for freedom of the press. In 2013, when the Middle East was still heaving after the ructions of the Arab Spring, his fate was a chilling demonstration of the critical importance of the need for a free press.
With Greste still an active public figure, his riveting story was going to be a hard act to follow. This is however an excellent film that is based on outstanding creative talent. To begin with, the writing is strong, not often the case with a local film. Based on Greste’s memoir of 2017, The First Casualty, it has been adapted for the screen by Peter Duncan, whose very first film was the wonderful Children of the Revolution. He has since worked in television in the main, where he has had long-running success with the series Rake.
Duncan’s screenplay created an excellent foundation for director Kriv Stenders (Red Dog), who manages to tell a pretty grim and complex story with a deft hand. You might even grin here and there. It is certain that you will feel indignant at Greste’s treatment throughout.
While it is set in Egypt, it was shot in Sydney with an ambience that looks and feels entirely authentic. Greste was held in numerous prisons spending many hours alone and inside his own head, never knowing where the next unpleasant surprise would come from. The experience in detention is brilliantly recreated with set design, skilful editing from Veronika Jenet, and a soundscape of disorienting ambience and fear. The atmospheric score is the work of Severed Heads electronic and industrial musician, Tom Ellard.
A recurring dream during Greste’s long incarceration is the memory of his friend and colleague, Kate Peyton (Yael Stone), who died alongside him while on assignment for the BBC in Mogadishu eight years earlier. The painful recollection of her death from a sniper’s bullet, and the questions of responsibility it raises, clearly continues to haunt him.
So immersive we know as little as he does about what’s going on
The first-person point of view is there from the start and dominates throughout, accompanying Greste through every moment of his ordeal, and every scene of the film, until his release. Its immersive quality means we know as little as he does about what is going on around him. Not speaking Arabic didn’t much help, but rounds of backgammon did.
Were it not for the company he brushed shoulders with during these alarming times, initially spent in solitary, Greste might not have come through the ordeal as intact as he did. Young Alaa Abd El-Fatah (Mojean Aria), a figure who has become a famous political prisoner, apparently had a significant part in that.
Greste’s Al Jazeera colleagues, cameraman Baher Mohamed (Rahel Romahn) and producer Mohamed Fahmy (Julian Maroun), who were also arrested by Egyptian authorities, eventually join Greste and they lend each other support. And also realise that they are in fierce disagreement about the best approach to their predicament.
Three young Australian actors of Middle Eastern background perform here in three key roles. Romahn is of Kurdish-Iraqi origins, Maroun of Lebanese and Aria of Iranian. Two of this trio are Heath Ledger award winners, and all three show impressive depth of talent.
Although the Akubra suits him, Richard Roxburgh’s Greste is not as nuanced and convincing as some other characters, but the sense of strength of purpose and moral courage that would have been essential to survive is never in any doubt.
First published in the Canberra Times on 17 April 2025. Jane’s reviews are also published by Rotten Tomatoes