CAIRO — Tearing down pillars of modern Egyptian history can be lethal, as author and screenwriter Ahmed Mourad and director Marwan Hamed recently discovered with “Diamond Dust,” a political thriller dealing with the Free Officers Movement and the coup that dethroned King Farouk on July 23, 1952.

Diamond dust, one of the most dangerous poisons known, can kill slowly and gradually and without leaving any trace of a crime, if so used. This particular characteristic might be what prompted Mourad to choose it as the title for his 2010 book, on which the film is based.

This deadly poison slowly penetrates the body, making it a useful metaphor in “Diamond Dust” for the creeping corruption in Egypt's political and social life, slowly and secretly destroying the society. One of the most controversial scenes features Taha al-Zahar, the film’s unsuspecting hero, reading his father’s account of the events of 1952 and their consequences. “They removed a king and brought a million others,” his father had written in his diary, implying that the new rulers and their close circles also acted as they pleased. “They stabbed their leader, Mohammad Naguib, in the back and dragged the country into a tripartite aggression and defeat [by Israel] in 1967. They are the reason behind the corruption that is rampant in our nation.” Naguib, a Free Officer, emerged as the first president of the republic of Egypt, but was forced from power after 17 months.

“Diamond Dust” the book, published six months before the 2011 revolution, became a best-seller that year, but was not a source of controversy. Its adaptation for the stage in 2016 premiered without event. This August, however, when the film adaptation by Hamed, known for the daring drama “The Yacoubian Building” (2006), arrived in Egyptian cinemas, it created a stir.