The President's Cake

Play trailer

1:07

The President's Cake

PG-13

Now Playing

1h 45m

Drama

History

Play Trailer

Watchlist

Watchlist

Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

100%

Tomatometer

56 Reviews

Popcornmeter

Fewer than 50 Ratings

While people across 1990's Iraq struggle to survive, 9-year old Lamia has been selected to prepare a cake to celebrate the President's birthday. In a landscape of fear and scarcity, where basic ingredients are nearly impossible to find, Lamia sets out on a determined journey throughout the big city in search of eggs, flour, and sugar. Accompanied by her grandmother, her loyal friend Saeed, and her pet rooster Hindi, she navigates vendors and police officers along the way.

Now in Theaters

Now Playing

Buy Tickets

Critics Consensus

A tenderly crafted, often devastating portrait of childhood in rural Iraq, The President's Cake vividly brings to life its morally complex world through richly drawn characters and intimate storytelling.

Read Critics Reviews

Wendy Ide

Observer (UK)

1h

This is an impressive first feature from the writer-director Hasan Hadi, a sharply observed, bittersweet, child’s-eye odyssey that avoids cute-kid cliches.

Go to Full Review

Kevin Maher

The Times (UK)

6d

4/5

It’s a testament to Nayyef’s ingenuous performance and the mesmerising sense of place that the film is always compelling and sometimes bleakly funny, although there are no happy endings.

Go to Full Review

Danny Leigh

Financial Times

Feb 12

4/5

At times, the mood is almost larky. (Lamia travels with her cockerel, Hindi, a star.). But the small, grave face of Nayyef — who has never acted before, and gives a great performance — provides the soul of the film.

Go to Full Review

Alexa Dalby

Dog and Wolf

1d

3/5

The President’s Cake has details/scenes specific to this wartime period and unfortunately lacks the universality of Panahi’s similar childhood-quest The White Balloon, but it’s still worth seeing.

Go to Full Review

Carla Hay

Culture Mix

2d

The riveting drama The President's Cake takes an unforgettable journey through Baghdad in 1990. In a politically oppressed society, a 9-year-old girl is under deadline pressure to present a cake at her school to celebrate Saddam Hussein's birthday.

Go to Full Review

Sarah Vincent

Sarah G Vincent Views

4d

The President’s Cake may remind one of A Serious Man in which the protagonist is almost in an existential siege. For Hadi, he lets Lamia and the audience begin to relax though still forever changed before he lets the other shoe drop.

Go to Full Review

Read all reviews

Matt

1d

Outstanding film. The young girl was so talented I was shocked to hear it was her first film. It was both heartwarming and devastating. The rooster did a great job too.

See more

Sir G

@Robert11 4d

Very strong movie which gives one a good feel for how fragile and difficult life was under Saddam Hussein in Iraq. Well paced film, which brought together a number of different threads very well at the end. Baneen Nayyef also performed very well, no mean feat given how young she is and how big her role was. All round, a very well directed, produced and acted film, which went very quickly. I thoroughly recommend this film, although it is not always an easy watch.

See more

Marc S

6d

An effective movie led by a star-turn performance by a child actress. It’s sad and hard to watch at tomes but a work so wonderful that you love the humanity of the main characters. A great insight into the day-to-day life in Iraq.

See more

Reidy F

@Reidy 6d

Excellent recreation of a child's life as a marsh Arab under Saddam Hussein's regime. Lots of lovely moments but ultimately tragic depiction of the effect of the regime on ordinary people.

See more

Roy J

Feb 9

Makes you rethink about America's economic sanctions. These sanctions have no impact on the evil dictators, but are actually harming the people that are already opressed

See more

Read all reviews

Read More

Read Less

POST RATING

WRITE A REVIEW

EDIT REVIEW

Hasan Hadi

Director

Baneen Ahmad Nayyef

Lamia

Sajad Mohamad Qasem

Saeed

Waheed Thabet Khreibat

Bibi

Rahim AlHaj

Jasim

Hasan Hadi

Screenwriter

The President's Cake: Teaser Trailer

1:07

View more videos

View more photos

Synopsis

While people across 1990's Iraq struggle to survive, 9-year old Lamia has been selected to prepare a cake to celebrate the President's birthday. In a landscape of fear and scarcity, where basic ingredients are nearly impossible to find, Lamia sets out on a determined journey throughout the big city in search of eggs, flour, and sugar. Accompanied by her grandmother, her loyal friend Saeed, and her pet rooster Hindi, she navigates vendors and police officers along the way.

Director: Hasan Hadi
Producer: Leah Chen Baker
Screenwriter: Hasan Hadi, Eric Roth
Distributor: Sony Pictures Classics
Production Co: TPC Film
Rating: PG-13 (Strong Language|Some Suggestive Material|Smoking)
Genre: Drama, History
Original Language: Arabic
Release Date (Theaters): Feb 6, 2026, Limited
Box Office (Gross USA): $9.9K
Runtime: 1h 45m
Aspect Ratio: Scope (2.35:1)