Lately, especially with the latest release of Shahid’s Safah El Giza, true crime is receiving more attention by the day. The underrated genre allows viewers to dive deep into the complexities of criminal minds, with gripping narratives and chilling mysteries that leave fans drawn by the puzzle-solving process of every episode. Whether it’s uncovering unsolved mysteries or revisiting infamous cases, true-crime content has the power to both educate and entertain.

With that said, if you’re half as hooked by the manipulative mind of Ahmed Fahmy’s character in Safah El Giza as we are, here are five movies and binge-worthy shows that will send more shivers down your spine!

Raya Wa Sekina

The two most famous serial killers, Raya and Sakina, continue to haunt many film and drama creators, inspiring them for over half a century. From on-stage productions to movies and TV shows, the narrative has been tackled from a variety of angles. But none of them depicted the gory realism of what actually happened. 

Al Mara’a W’al Satoor

In the late ’80s, terror shook the streets over the news of an Alexandrian woman who murdered her husband as she stopped him from raping their daughter. Nahed Al-Qaffas not only killed him in cold blood, but she tore him apart and threw his remains in the street! 

Actor Nabila Obaid decided to embody her story in 1996 in the hit movie El Mara’a W’al Satoor, which received both commercial and critical acclaim. Actor Abu Bakr Ezzat, who portrayed the murdered husband, even won the Best Actor Award at the Cairo Film Festival for his role.

Al Saffah

In the early ‘90s, another serial killer named Safah El Mohandessin hit the headlines. Actor and writer Khaled El Sawy was so provoked by the case of Ahmed El Mesiri that he decided to write the screenplay for Al Saffah. The movie, co-starring Hany Salama and Nicole Saba, was released in 2009 after threats from the murderer’s family tried to stop it from screening.

Tito

Ahmed Al-Sakka was cast as Tito in the titular movie at the beginning of the third millennium. The film tells the story of Taher, whose disgraceful past of being raised in a juvenile reformatory and being a part of a gang haunted him ‘til his last breath. Tarek El Erian, who wrote and directed the movie, confirmed that its events were inspired by one of journalist Moufid Fawzy’s interviews in the juvenile halls.

Ibn Halal

Aside from using taglines like “events are from the author’s imagination” or “any similarity to reality is coincidental”, Mohamed Ramadan’s first lead in a show was undoubtedly a reimagination of one horrific accident that took place back in 2008. Ebn Halal narrated the story of Hebeisha, who gets blamed for a murder actually carried out by a filthy rich womaniser. Many claims linked the show to the infamous murder of the daughter of Moroccan singer Laila Ghofran to the point that prompted the singer to attack the show’s makers on live television!