The President’s Cake Review – Resonating, Emotional, A Must See
- Details
- Category: Haute This Issue
- Published on Friday, 27 February 2026 07:26
- Written by Janet Walker
The President's Cake, from Sony Pictures Classic, presents a resonating film on life in pre-liberation Iraq, and follows two resourceful and creative classmates as they make there way through the city in search of ingredients to bake a cake.
The film follows a young girl, 9-year old Lamia, played by Baneen Ahmed Nayyef, who is begin raised by her grandmother, Bibi, played by Waheed Thabet Khreibat. They live in thatched huts, along with others in their village, and traveled via canoe to the city.
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On this day, we hear Bibi explain to Lamia to excuse herself when it comes time to draw names. She gives her an apple for lunch. When she arrives at school, the teacher steals the apple, leaving the Lamia with nothing to eat.
This is where we meet Saeed, played by Sajad Mohamad Qasem, Lamia's friend, who also lives in the village. By the end of class, Lamia has been chosen to bake the President's cake. Lamia's family is very poor, and the ingredients are costly. So, the next day, Lamia and her Bibi head to the city to try and barter odd trinkets they have gathered from other excursions to, we believe, buy the ingredients for the cake.
On the way, the hitch a ride with a kind man, Jasim, played by Rahim AlHaj. He jokes and tells them riddles and earns the nickname the mailman. Lamia is easy to remember, not only is she very pretty, but she has a service rooster, Hindi, who calms her, and provides her some comfort.
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The first stop through the street merchants is with a man who sells school uniforms. She trades for the uniform and now, Lamia, through a wardrobe change, becomes a proper school girl. They stop in a local restaurant, where they begin to talk with the owner, a fashionable women, who apparently is in the business of human trafficking of some sort. Bibi appears without resource and tries to make deal for Lamia.
Lamia understands something is off and takes off running away. This begins her second adventure. Saeed explains they will be at the amusement park, and so she find her way to the park, and suddenly the two friends, are wondering through the city trying to barter for the ingredients to bake the cake.
As the day wears on, the pair are slowly building the ingredients, and Lamia decides they need a little divine assistance, so she stops to pray, and asks Saeed to care for Hindi. After a day of navigating the bustling city on the edge of chaos, securing the ingredients, escaping those who would cause them harm, Saeed loses Hindi. Without the rooster, Lamia is lost, and as it is like a child to her, she is determined to find him.
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The President's Cake does not shy away from presenting the struggles for women and girls, as Lamia, is attempting to find her rooster, she stumbles upon a chicken slaughter factory. She, in her innocence, describes the rooster and the butcher explains as she is still in need of the baking power and sugar for her cake, that the ingredients are just down the street, and she innocently follows him into a porn theater, before becoming scared and running into the crowd with the pedophile chasing her screaming, "she stole my wallet." She is arrested.
By this time, the Jasim, has returned to the police station to try and find Lamia, as Bibi, inconsolable collapses.
This sets up the surprising and shocking ending. The President's Cake, winner of the Camera D'Or and Audience Award at this year's Cannes Film Festival, embodies innocence, imagination, and inner strength.
Director Hasan Hadi presents an astoundingly realistic film, and as the world is fully aware, Iraqi culture included child brides, and lack of punishment for pedophiles, and granted supreme and absolute authority to men. In his feature film debut, he depicts three types of men within the film, to show that while this does exists not everyone is tainted by its evils.
The acting is excellent, and we cheer the wiles of our two young leads, hoping they will survive this day unscathed away from the confines of home. The day, of course, does not end as brightly as we hope and the director presents the value of connections, a village, and community.
The President's Cake opens nationwide in theaters Friday, February 27, 2026. It is a must see.
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Country: Iran.
Language: Iraqi with English subtitles.
Runtime: 105 minutes.
Release Date: February 27, 2026 (nationwide).
Director: Hasan Hadi.
Producer: Leah Chen Baker.
Co-Producer: Yanal Kassay.
Executive Producer: Ali Hadi Al-Musawi, Huda Abbood Al-Radhi, Veronica C. Baker, Julia Woolley Chatwin, Chris Columbus, Eleanor Columbus, Naia Cucukov, Johnathan Gardner, Donna Gruneich, Donna Gruneich, Marielle Heller, Brian Houlihan, Kareen Mortimer, Josh Peters, Robina Riccitiello, Peter Richards, Eric Roth, Chris Stolte, Heidi Stolte, Trevite Willis.
Writer: Hasan Hadi.
Cast: Baneen Ahmed Nayyef, Sajad Mohamad Qasem, Waheed Thabet Khreibat, Rahim AlHaj.
Janet Walker is the publisher, founder, and sole owner of Haute-Lifestyle.com. A graduate of New York University, she has been covering international news through the Beltway Insider, a weekly review of the nation's top stories, for more than a decade. A general beat writer/reporter and entertainment/film critic, she is also an accomplished news/investigative news/crime reporter and submitted for Pulitzer Prize consideration "Cops Conspire to Deep Six Sex Assaults" in the Breaking News Category and was persuaded to withdraw the submission. Ms. Walker has completed five screenplays "The Six Sides of Truth," "The Assassins of Fifth Avenue," "The Wednesday Killer," "The Manhattan Project," and the sci-fi thriller "Project 13: The Last Day." She has also published "Unholy Alliances: A True Crime Story," and "Days, Times, Seasons, and Events: A Collection of Poetry & Prose," which can be purchased here. She is a member of the Los Angeles Press Club, the National Writers Union, and a member of the International Federation of Journalists.
