Sorry to Disturb

Sorry to Disturb (Arabic: اسف على الإزعاج, romanized: ʾāsifun ʿalā l-ʾizʿāji) is a 2008 Egyptian drama film directed by Khaled Marei. It stars Ahmed Helmi.

Sorry to Disturb
آسف على الإزعاج (in Arabic)
Directed by	Khaled Marei
Written by	Ayman Bahgat Kamar
Produced by	Walid Sabri
Starring	Ahmed Helmi Menna Shalabi Mahmoud Hamida Dalal Abdel Aziz
Cinematography	Ahmad Yusuf
Music by	Amr Ismail
Production company	Brothers United for Cinema
Distributed by	Brothers United for Cinema
Release date	16 July 2008 (2008-07-16)
Running time	115 minutes
Country	Egypt
Language	Arabic
Box office	E£15 million

Plot

Hasan Salah El-Din is a young aeronautical engineer who feels lonely, out of place, and depressed. However, he believes that his work is critical for national security and could save the Egyptian government millions of dollars. Repeated letters to Hosni Mubarak alleging he is being persecuted by all because of his intellect have gone unanswered.

He is a workaholic who refuses to take any vacations, and is reprimanded by his boss for doing so. Due to a violation of his boss's order to take time off, he is suspended.

El-Din purchases a motorcycle, against his mother's wishes, despite him not knowing how to ride it. He occasionally rides with his father.

One day he meets a beautiful girl at a café (Menna Shalabi), and claims to be a friend of a man who had scammed her and was dispatched by him to return his money to her. He uses this ploy to continue setting up subsequent meetings with the woman and eventually they fall in love.

Later, his life is turned upside down, as he learns that he has schizophrenia, and that he has been having visual hallucinations of his late father and the girlfriend.^[1] Furthermore, the motorcycle did not exist; the money was spent on a new MacBook which El-Din placed in a closet never to be used.

With his mother's help, he receives medication and therapy to cure his mental illness. He returns to work. Sitting in a café one day he finds that the girlfriend he hallucinated was indeed a real person and goes to speak with her. They become a couple.

Reception

Helmy in 2014

Sorry to Disturb was one of the two highest-grossing films in Egypt of 2008, earning over E£15 million.^[2] The film won first prize at the Egyptian National film festival^[3] and won the Dear Guest magazine award for best movie of 2008.^[4] Helmi won the Egyptian Catholic Center Cinema Festival award for Best Actor for the third year running,^[5] and the film won Best Film, Best Director, Best Script, and Best Production.^[6]

The soundtrack includes "Don't Speak" by No Doubt and "Buddha Bar" by Wally Brill.