Review: Sirat

Image courtesy of Neon.

Oliver Laxe's "Sirat" was one of this year's surprise hits at the Cannes Film Festival and it's easy to see why. From its entrancing opening, set to throbbing techno music, the movie sets an ominous tone and rarely lets up for two hours.

The film's title takes its name from an Islamic bridge that separates hell from paradise and its story leads a group of characters from a place that all but two of them consider paradise to a road trip into hell. As the picture opens, a Spaniard named Luis (Sergi Lopez) and his young son, Esteban (Bruno Nunez), have wandered into a rave being held in the Moroccan desert to search for their daughter and sister who has been missing for months. They have intel that she might be attending the rave.

The opening scenes of the picture are hypnotic as the rave's organizers set up speakers in the desert and attendees began to trance out, most likely enhanced by drugs, to the pulsating music. Meanwhile, Luis and Esteban make their way among the crowd showing the picture of the missing girl to whomever is willing to talk to them.

They meet a group of misfits who have traveled to the rave by trailer and tell Luis of another rave in another part of the desert that they will later attend. They suggest that his daughter might be at that one if they don't see her at the current one. Shortly thereafter, the Moroccan military shows up to escort all of the partygoers out of there. We hear news reports of what might be a civil war breaking out nearby or even an international incident (one raver suggests they are on the verge of World War III).

But the band of misfits breaks away from the line of vehicles being escorted by the military and into the desert. Luis instinctively follows them and the two groups begin to rely on each other in the desert, even though it's never clear whether they should actually trust each other.

Halfway through the picture, something horrific occurs that is likely to scar viewers for life, not because it is graphic in its depiction but simply due to the horror of the moment. Other horrors will follow when the caravan of ravers and Luis find themselves in the midst of a minefield. This is a film that sets the tone early on through its haunting sound design and imagery as well as the sinister beat of the rave music and then halfway through becomes one of the year's tensest movies.

Laxe plays it close to the vest as to what it all means, but there's a scene later in the picture in which Luis and one of the misfits, Jade (Jade Oukid), listen to techno music and she explains to him the possible beauty to be found in hearing the music through damaged speakers. When he questions her love for the music, she tells him that "it's not for listening, it's for dancing." As the world seemingly erodes around us as it does for the characters in "Sirat" and they face their own personal horrors, one must keep dancing. What other choice is there?

"Sirat" is one of the year's unique moviegoing experiences - its breathtaking desert vistas and nightmarish sonic interludes make it feel like a party at the end of the world. While the film might occasionally give off the vibe of an Antonioni or Claire Denis picture, it also has a visual and storytelling style all its own. 

It's occasionally shocking and tense in a manner that recalls the classic "The Wages of Fear" and its excellent remake, "Sorcerer." And the little acts of kindness among its characters while facing horrific scenarios suggests a way forward when living through hell on earth. Moviegoers looking for something unique and memorable will likely be blown away by "Sirat."