The President's Cake
Sony Pictures Classics | Release Date: February 6, 2026 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
84
METASCORE
Universal acclaim based on 17 Critic Reviews
Positive:
16
Mixed:
1
Negative:
0

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
The Film StageRory O'ConnorJun 4, 2025
It’s difficult to think of another debut that combines such crowd-pleasing sensibilities, political resonance, and cinematic sweep. Read full review
90
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Barry HertzFeb 26, 2026
Shot entirely in the director’s home country with a largely amateur, untrained cast, the film blends a striking sense of street-level realism, political commentary and poetic nostalgia for the naive innocence of youth. Read full review
90
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzFeb 24, 2026
What’s most remarkable about the film, which was shot in Iraq, are the performances. The cast members are not actors. They’re non-professionals, at least, acting for the first time. Yet their performances feel so genuine, so lived-in. Read full review
90
Christian Science MonitorPeter RainerFeb 6, 2026
A crowd-pleaser in the best sense, it overflows with empathy for its beleaguered people. Read full review
90
The New York TimesBen KenigsbergFeb 5, 2026
It’s a striking, mature debut. Read full review
90
The Hollywood ReporterSheri LindenMay 24, 2025
From the pastoral beauty of its opening sequence to the gut punch of its last, Hadi’s film is an exceptional screen debut, as perceptive as it is kinetic and, with one eye on the bombers overhead, brimming with life. Read full review
88
RogerEbert.comMatt Zoller SeitzFeb 6, 2026
The President’s Cake is notable for its unvarnished, affecting performances; its digitally shot yet eerily film-like cinematography, which packs an amazing amount of crisply focused information into wide frames with rounded edges. But most of all, for the way it captures the strange disjunction between the monotony of daily life for children in a war zone and the anxiety between adults who are aware that everything could fall apart at any moment. Read full review
83
Original-CinChris KnightFeb 25, 2026
The President’s Cake remains a lovely tale, with some sweeping, almost touristic views of Baghdad, and a slightly ambiguous downbeat ending. Read full review
80
The TimesKevin MaherFeb 17, 2026
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. Read full review
80
The GuardianPeter BradshawFeb 11, 2026
There’s a terrific charm and sweetness in this debut from Iraqi film-maker Hasan Hadi. Read full review
80
The New YorkerRichard BrodyFeb 10, 2026
Hadi tells an engaging story, brings complex and surprising characters to life, lends a locale an aesthetic iconography, and renders personal identity inextricable from the forces of history that shaped or deformed it. Read full review
80
VarietyTomris LafflyMay 24, 2025
While The President’s Cake mostly plays like a genial fairy tale, with superbly balanced humor and drama, Hadi's still unsparing about the ills of patriarchal society. Read full review
80
Screen DailyAmber WilkinsonMay 24, 2025
Hadi has an eye for detail, echoes and lyrical touches. Read full review
75
Movie NationRoger MooreMar 1, 2026
Even if the surprises are few, the plot twists have a comforting subtext that leaves us with the hope that for Lamia, things might just come out all right — with or without baking The President’s Cake. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleBob StraussFeb 10, 2026
Winner of both the Camera d’Or and an audience award at last year’s Cannes Film Festival, writer-director Hasan Hadi’s feature debut is both beguiling and unforgiving, culturally specific yet universal, funny and heartbreaking. Read full review
75
IndieWireRitesh MehtaMay 24, 2025
The President’s Cake is a case of relatively modest filmmaking that becomes rich because archetype and characterization coordinate the story world. Read full review
60
Little White LiesMarina AshiotiFeb 11, 2026
Filtering the tale through Lamia’s childlike whimsy allows the colourful, polished cinematography to sing. Read full review
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