Sirât (2025) - 6/10

Even before anyone speaks, Sirât has a vibe. Helped perhaps by giant speaker stacks belting out menacing bass at a dusty desert rave. People in the moment, embracing the freedom only to be found through really loud music. You can get lost… or go missing. We’re in Morocco, but not everyone is dancing. Luis (Sergi López) and his young son, Esteban (Bruno Núñez Arjona) are looking for their daughter and sister, who’s not been seen since going missing at another festival 5 months earlier. It’s reminder of the knife edge of human emotion, how quickly things can change and how experiences can share the same space, but differ wildly. Freedom so close to chaos. Drawing a blank, the pair follow some patrons deeper into the desert, to another rave, further away from a society feeling its own civil unrest. It’s all sets a rather uncertain and uneasy tone. Luis seems desperate. Sure they want to find his daughter, but this seems extreme and not a little dangerous. It’s eerily beautiful though. The camera has a lot of space to play with and it indulges wonderfully. Shot in Spain, it’s a sea of orange rock, dry and desolate. Perfect really for it to slowly crank up the tension and remind you just how fragile we are. It’s a challenging film, so simple in so many ways, but with some disarming curveballs that really throw things off. Still, it’s an interesting journey and definitely unsatisfactory.

6/10