What It’s About
At a drug-fueled rave in the Moroccan desert, Luis (Lopez) searches for his missing teenage daughter with twelve-year-old son Estaban (Arjona). They’re so focused they scarcely hear the loud, propulsive techno beats the crowd moves to. They meet a scruffy, eccentric group of ravers who clearly live off the grid (Janvier, Oukid, Gadia, Herderson, Bellamy), who inform Luis they’re headed to another rave across the desert where his daughter might be. Even with military activity in the area, Luis decides to follow them and gradually descends into a living nightmare.
Why We Love It
Utterly fresh and distinctive, Oliver Laxe’s freakout of a movie reminds us just how powerful cinema can be. Much like 2019’s “Parasite”, “Sirāt” contains a surprise punch midway through that causes a dramatic shift in tone. The film’s outsize impact comes from its documentary-style realism (with a mostly non-professional cast), some jaw-dropping cinematography, and Kangding Ray’s haunting score. More sensitive souls should likely steer clear, but if you’re open to being truly rocked by a film, delve into the mind-blowing “Sirāt”.