SINCE my childhood days, I have been captivated by cinema centred on the machinations of politics, power and war. I once regarded these films as mere acts of storytelling — stylised demonstrations where the manipulative politician and the coercive industrialist were simply dramatic archetypes. I believed the demons on screen, with their hollow slogans of public betterment masking self-interest, were confined to the script. However, the revelation of the Epstein files has shattered this sense of fictional detachment, offering a grim confirmation that the world operates precisely as the darkest of those scripts suggested.

Such scandals represent more than individual depravities; they hint at a modern-day secret cave of global influence. While the documented evidence focuses on the horrific exploitation of the vulnerable, the broader implications are even more chilling. Gatherings of global intelligentsia and political elite likely function as clandestine hubs where diplomatic relations are steered and market futures decided far from the oversight of public institutions.

This collapse of elite morality takes us back to the stark realism of Niccolo Machiavelli. Centuries ago, he ruthlessly articulated the inherently selfish nature of the powerful, and the cold indulgence in transactional mechanisms to maintain dominance. The Epstein files serve as a modern validation of Machiavelli’s theorisation that morality is an obsolete relic at least for the elite. When the line between cinematic villainy and world leadership vanishes, we are left with the haunting realisation that the movies are never just art — they tend to foretell what lies ahead.

Hasnain Ahmad Thaheem
Lahore

Published in Dawn, May 3rd, 2026