Free Trip to Egypt Movie Review

© Kindness Films

Free Trip to Egypt offers much more than just a fun vacation
by Justin Moore

If someone offered you a free trip to Egypt, would you take it? Would you take it if you were concerned about an Islamic threat in America? A Canadian – Egyptian entrepreneur traveled to America in hopes of finding Americans who were willing to embark on a journey to Egypt for free to understand their culture better. Tarek Mounib walked around many different places holding up the sign that read 'Free trip to Egypt, anyone?' and the responses were vastly different. Some people were intrigued while some were hostile about the offer. Mounib ended up taking six people with preconceptions about Egypt and paired them with local Egyptians who were as diverse as they were.

Before watching this documentary directed by Ingrid Serban, I immediately sensed that film would spark a lively discussion amongst the travelers as well as eye opening moments for many people like myself. Many Americans have a certain belief that Middle Easterners are terrorists and they admit that their belief comes from the media. As Mounib gathered the group of people together, many of them were told by family members that they shouldn’t go because they would be held hostage or have their throat slit. When they arrived in Egypt, they quickly realized that life for Egyptians is nothing like what they thought it was like.

Many of the Americans that traveled with Mounib have their own reason for going to Egypt for free. An elderly Jewish couple wanted to join the experiment because their son works in the Middle East, so they wanted to know a little more about where he is. A former solider simply wants to explore new places. There is also a police officer, a preacher, and a beauty pageant queen who also go on this once in a lifetime trip. What I admired about the documentary was how open the Americans and Egyptians were to participate in this experiment. Everyone wanted to know more about the people they were spending time with and by the end of their trip, they felt like family. Both the director and Mounib both set up the conversations and interactions nicely which allow for a lively discussion about religion, love, and life and how people view both America and Egypt.

Click the image to view the trailer on YouTube

I enjoyed watching the diverse group of Americans travel through Egypt and get familiar with their customs. Everyone was so willing to learn about each other that it made for a heartwarming documentary to watch. Mounib saw that many Americans view Egyptians in a certain way, and he sought out to show a few Americans that they might be the same as them. This documentary wouldn’t have worked if Mounib wasn’t so welcoming and understanding of people’s views. He wanted to try and change their mind but not force it upon them as well. He approached the experiment with a hook, the free trip, and then revealed what his real intentions were, which was to have humans understand each other.

Free Trip to Egypt was eye-opening and heartwarming. It is a documentary that many people need to see if they ever thought a certain way about a group of people that was influenced through the media. It was emotional to see the families in Egypt be so welcoming to Americans when they know some Americans think a certain way about them. Mounib and his experiment was a great subject to handle in this documentary and I am glad I got to witness the journey he wanted to create.

Want to see Free Trip to Egypt and judge for yourself? Click on the images below to see the movie, and be sure to come back and tell us what you thought!

Free Trip to Egypt has a run time of 1 hour 38 minutes and is not rated.

@ Kindness Films

Read more from Justin at Hotchka.com