In this intervention, I will examine the independent film Ashab…wa la ‘Az (Dearest of Friends 2022) an Arabic Netflix adaptation of the Italian movie Perfect Strangers (2016), and the controversies ignited on social media due to its engagement with controversial issues such as: infidelity and homosexuality. The film struck a cord with the Egyptian viewers for its frank depiction of infidelity, the secret lives individuals have in their cell phones, and what they perceived as the normalization of homosexuality. Despite the fact that the movie was produced by Front Row company, rather than an Arab production entity, and aired on Netflix (an independent American company), cries were abound demanding its removal from the Egyptian airwaves. There were calls for banning its airing in the Egyptian media, a lawsuit to ban its circulation, an emergency statement from the Egyptian congress, and a proposed law criminalizing homosexuality. The social media campaign against Ashab…wa la ‘Az took issue with the character of actress Mona Zaki taking off her underwear off camera. In addition to frankly addressing premarital sex, infidelity, and homosexuality, viewers critiqued what they dubbed as the systematic attack on Arabic societal values and morals. There was little mention, of course, of a three-decade old movie Al-Sadah al-Rijal (Respectable Men, 1986) in which the character of Mahmoud ‘Abd al-‘Aziz takes off all of his clothes without any public outcry. I argue that critics of this film and proponents of conspiracy theory, which first circulated when the LGBT flag was displayed in public in a Lebanese band “Mashru’ Leila” concert performance, often resort to this tactic when the typical cinematic formula that depicts same-sex individuals in a comical or villainous light is broken. This shift to a more humane, well-rounded depiction of these historically ostracized figures, gives a variegated depth to their personae. The generated empathy to these LGBT strangers of the Arab house creates fear and a sense of anxiety that films such as Ashab…wa la ‘Az unleashes in the collective Arab psyche.