When observing ongoing political crises, it’s always tempting to diagnose a country’s inability to realize democratic reforms. In the case of Egypt, a country whose nascent democratic movements are being suffocated by the military and coopted by the growing cult of Field Marshal Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, the failed revolution can easily be classified as a classical military coup. With the Muslim Brotherhood in retreat and liberals siding with the military, the authoritarian and increasingly fascistic regime seems well-deserving of the epithet Bonapartist.

Studying the events that have shaken Egypt and toppled President Hosni Mubarak, one is also tempted to explain the sudden shift in Egyptian consciousness with more recent precedents, translating it back into a familiar tongue. But no previous models will do: The crisis is giving birth to a new language of Egyptian liberalism and civil society, though it may yet be aborted by the ancien régime.

For those who are eager to master this new language, make sure to watch Jehane Noujaim’s The Square. Unlike other political documentaries, which seek to methodically chronicle events and explain state machinations, Jehane Noujaim’s latest film interrogates the new Egyptian revolutionary consciousness by offering viewers an impressionistic portrait of a band of young and endlessly captivating protestors.