Comedy About Unemployed Religious Police Officers Who Become Male Strippers to Be First Film Released in Saudi Arabia

Just as the country opens up public cinemas for the first time in 35 years, Saudi Arabia looks set to have its first major movie smash hit.

Vice Squad, which been billed by producers as a “heartwarming, laugh-out-loud Wa’hahaha’bi comedy,” follows a group of religious police officers in Riyadh who find themselves out of work amid the Kingdom’s ongoing reforms and liberalisation. Facing an uncertain financial future, the ultra conservative ex-cops choose to form a male striptease act in order to make ends meet and win back the hearts of their wives.

The film, which has already finished shooting, was announced during Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman’s visit to Hollywood, and will be given a gala screening in the first Saudi Arabian cinema, set to open in Riyadh later this month.