LUMI Reviews Sirāt: The Desert is Anywhere Without You.

Before seeing this film, due to the pre-screenings at famous festivals and for critics of high stature, all I ever heard about it was “go in knowing as little as you possibly can.” Sure enough, I steeled myself against the temptation to read ahead about Óliver Laxe’s Sirāt, to let myself enjoy the experience as much as possible. I think this was absolutely the right choice, so this review will be in the same spirit, no spoilers ahead. All I will tell you, as it is all you need to know, is what watching this film feels like.

So what is this film about? The brief description on Google describes it as a father and son journey through the desert to find their missing daughter at a Moroccan rave, which indeed is all I knew on my way in. Knowing anymore would not exactly spoil what watching the film feels like but would give you advance notice of one of the most shocking films I have ever seen. If, through some misfortune of auto-refreshing ‘For You’ feeds or curiosity that manifests as a lack of patience, the events of the film are spoiled for you, don’t think that makes you safe against the second and third act of complete and utter madness this has in store. Once you see the title card, you are no longer safe.

You will drop your jaw in horror, you will cower behind the chair in front, you will bite your nails in consternation, you will hear the mesmerising David Letellier score that throughout portends an impending sense of dread, like a wave inevitably hurtling toward you; but you will do this whether you are at home or not. If you are lucky enough to see this in a movie theatre, then add an impact tax of 250% to all the above. But it’s just a man and his son searching for their daughter at a rave? How could it ever elicit a range of emotion so broad? Take this review as a challenge, if you do not feel this way watching this movie, then it is nothing but an implicit admission that you are but an unfeeling robot.

With regards to the quality, there is no cinematic forebearer to this, at least not one that I have seen. The closest parallel film would likely be Mad Max: Fury Road, but by some miracle it is even more tense because of how much closer Sirāt is to the real world. In fact, the greatest compliment I can pay to the film is that it feels like you are there too, for better and, at times, definitely for worse.

So dear reader, do yourself a favour, go to the cinema if you can and watch this film. Loving it is certainly not guaranteed, but an unforgettable experience is undoubtedly assured. That is, once Sirāt lets the handbrake go, the road ahead is very treacherous indeed. In other words, expect the unexpected.