Freeze Frames

A fridge-freezer is the centre of any kitchen, and by extension, the family unit. Paradoxically, considering its cold interior, a brilliant refrigerator is a great source of warmth; I think of our own classic Smeg unit, draped in novelty magnets, postcards, family pictures — even a menu from a Michelin-star restaurant. Memories. The fridge is where the food is. The fridge is where love resides.

So what happens when your fridge-freezer starts malfunctioning? The Egyptian film Complaint No. 713317 (Yasser Shafiey, 2025) explores this theme in exhaustive detail, using the deterioration of a freezer unit and the ensuing havoc that unfolds as a metaphor for the breakdown of a couple. At a short length, this could have been a nourishing little snack; told in feature length, it feels, to quote Bilbo Baggins, “thin, sort of stretched, like butter scraped over too much bread.”

Magdy (Mahmoud Hemida) and Sama (Sherine) are a recently retired married couple, currently hosting a semi-successful party (although he claims she invited too many people), when a simple defrosting operation¹ The fact that they have to defrost at all is an indicator that the machine is old. Most modern units boast of their “frost-free” features these days. leaves the side of the freezer punctured, rendering their machine — one which we are told has lasted many decades (much like their marriage, etc, etc) — completely unusable.

What follows is a Kafkaesque litany of errors involving an incompetent repair company, one that seemingly promises a swift resolution but keeps on finding novel ways to further delay the restoration of familial harmony. Of course, there is an easy fix — buying a new one — but rising inflation, as well as Madgy’s shame in Sama earning more from her pension than he does, forbids them from shelling out for a fresh model.

In a country ruled by the authoritarian leader Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, with over 60,000 political prisoners, and having survived a significant financial crisis just a few years ago, with inflation rates hitting a whopping 36.5% in July 2023, the quixotic fridge gains a certain Trojan proportion. This comic premise is thus imbued with a lingering political tension, with the middle class squeezed out by an impossible standard of living and the spectre of everyday corruption. But the satirical elements here don’t really hit in any significant way, with the comic timing and delivery perfectly amenable, yet lacking any real venom. It simply feels far too trivial to ever make any true impact, either as political or romantic cinema. 

With its single apartment location, plenty of medium-distance shots, bickering old couple and plenty of oddball characters — as well as an inconsequential B-plot about a neighbour and her children escaping an abusive husband — Complaint feels like an overlong pilot episode of a sitcom. And the characters are likeable enough to sustain a short format. But at 80 minutes, this threadbare premise slowly thawed my patience.