Director: Matteo Garrone

Stars: Seydou Sarr, Moustapha Fall, Khady Sy

Garrone’s best film since the classic ‘Gomorra’ follows two Senegalese teens as they embark on a perilous journey to Italy. Excellent newcomer Sarr is Seydou a sixteen-year-old who lives just outside of Dakar in a one-bedroom house with his mother and little sisters. He works alongside his cousin Moussa (Fall) on a building site. The boys are also a rap duo and plan to go Europe to become hip hop stars, an idea Seydou’s mother (Sy) firmly nixes. Persuaded by Moussa, Seydou decides to go anyway. Their money supply is severely depleted early on when they pick up fake Malian passports. Then, during a hair-raising and dangerous rough jeep ride over the Sahara, it begins to dawn on the boys that they will have to be ruthless to survive the journey. Garrone deftly juggles social realism, David Lean-style spectacle, and thriller and horror genres. Paolo Carnera’s cinematography is epic and sweeping without compromising the serious nature of the subject matter. Some very harrowing scenes, including a horrific detour to a prison, are tempered with moments of grace and wonder, and the conclusion is immensely satisfying.

David Willoughby

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