SIRĀT - An immersive trip to the edge of the abyss

Pumping bass, sweating bodies, ecstasy

Admittedly, when it comes to films, I have become a complete snob. Malicious tongues would probably say the same about me in other areas too (and they would probably be right). What I mean is that I don't really care about the genre as long as I feel something. Authenticity. True expression. Whether this feeling is created by the authenticity of the characters, the (quiet) drama of the script, or the overall mood of the film is irrelevant to me at first. I prefer a combination of all these factors.

Starting with the cheapest kung fu films in my youth, through the frenzy of the 80s and 90s, the trashy 2000s, the legendary classics of the 1970s, to indies à la Wim Wenders, Tarkovsky, Trier, and ancient Hitchcocks, many doors have been opened.
There is little to nothing left on my watch list, and my preferences have become very solidified these days. David Lynch ranks very high. Coppola too.

As it becomes increasingly difficult for the curious, restless mind to find satisfying material in the past, hope (and regular disappointment) has inevitably turned to the filmmakers of the present. It's important to mention all this so that readers don't get the wrong kind of expectations. I like things that are complex and often (very) uncomfortable. I enjoy what some others would find boring or too complicated.

I recently came across SIRĀT thanks to a really persistent Instagram ad.

Exciting banner. Sound-Boxes in the desert. After 5 seconds in the trailer, a crisp techno soundtrack. Check. Moroccan desert. Check. A father and his son search for their lost daughter/sister, following a group of men and women into the desert. Simple plot (usually a good sign).

Let's go! After 2 hours, the film was over and my wife (also a film fan) and I sat flat and silent, pressed into the sofa for a good five minutes. Both lost in thought. The feeling lingered until the next day.

How do you describe this feeling? Empty and fulfilled at the same time? Shaken and moved? Purified and defiled? Energized and exhausted? I can really only speak in terms of dissonant pairs of emotions here.

It leaves a bruise. On different levels.

It helps if you've read the existentialism of Sartre and Camus, and definitely Conrad's “Heart of Darkness” as well. Knowledge of these philosophies opens up another level in the film. You feel pure life- and the absence of it.

The desert is not your friend

An affinity for techno music is not only helpful, but also acts as a maximum experience enhancer. You don't have to be a techno fan to feel the film. Are you one? Then the film is a sacred duty.

This soundtrack by Kangding Ray... oh my God, what sounds. An oscar would be so much deserved! Musical “accompaniment” for the ass—the soundtrack acts as an indispensable supporting actor in a way that I have rarely experienced in film. It gets under your skin, into your cells, you want to move, you want to cry. A trance that makes the loneliness and harshness of human existence tangible, experiential.

So what happens in the film?
I'm definitely not going to reveal that. And that's very important. You have to be drawn into the film completely unaware. The less you know about the story, the better. DO NOT WATCH the trailer! Just bloody dive into it.

It's philosophical, it's harsh, but in places it's also very funny, if you have a sense of really black humor.

The desert is another main character. It doesn't want people, it's not kind to them. For centuries, we have romanticized and destroyed wild nature at the same time, but at the end of the day, it doesn't give a fuck about us, forcing us to go to extremes if we want to survive in it without technological help. And that's a good thing. No more illusions.

Speaking about illusions. The group accompanying the father and son is a colorful, crippled, ragged bunch, as if stolen from an Oskar Schlemmer exhibition. Lanky, misshapen, coarse. A crippled hand, a missing foot. Hard, worn facial features stand out against the glaring desert sun, fitting perfectly into the barren, inhospitable landscape. A lost caravan on its way to hell.

The father seems clumsy, helpless, driven by love for his daughter. A man who means well, who is stubborn, but who, despite many warnings, marches through the world recklessly and somewhat naively, risking everything. You meet people like this in real life too.

A father desperately searching for his lost daughter

All the characters are completely believable, and after a short period of adjustment, you feel you understand them and somehow belong to the pack. The people are the opposite of beautiful, and thus absolutely beautiful, a stark contrast to today's world, perfected by AI-filters, longevity madness and constant comparison of beauty. A world that often desperately tries to hide its wounds. At Sirat, these wounds lie bare, without anyone talking about them.

Anyone who has ever taken a trip into the wilderness away from all-inclusive tourism knows how quickly people get used to the dirt. Comfort becomes irrelevant, and the rough, primitive side of life reemerges from the consciousness that has been exiled by society and conventions.

The urge for freedom and redemption is tangible, which is stylistically expressed above all by the long tracking shots of vehicles drifting through the desert, whipped up by Kangding Ray's atmospheric sounds. The boundaries between the universe and Earth become blurred. Very Lynch-esque. In fact, the sounds and noises of the entire film seem amplified. The connection of a cable to a box, the crunch of tires on hard sand. And the magnificent bass. Fuck.
No, this is not a music film, the sound is just the icing on the cake. You have to experience the film loudly. And definitely in the original language!

The young Spanish director Óliver Laxe won the Grand Jury Prize at Cannes in 2025 with this film and, in my opinion, has a very promising journey ahead of him, provided he maintains his relentlessness and consistency!

I am anything but a masochist, but during this film, I curiously enjoyed the punches in the gut. It makes you realize how lucky we are. It demonstrates that our Western civilization is no better or more important than others. This movie is an bsolutely unusual and refreshing indie gem on all levels, so minimalistic and expressive.

One track on the soundtrack is called Katharsis.
Purification.

That sums it up.

Over and out.