Sirât

''Sirât'' is a 2025 drama film co-written and directed by Óliver Laxe. Starring Sergi López and Bruno Núñez Arjona, it follows a father's search for his missing daughter in the deserts of southern Morocco. It is a co-production between Spain and France. The film had its world premiere in the main competition of the 78th Cannes Film Festival on 15 May 2025, where it won the Jury Prize. It was theatrically released by BTeam Pictures in Spain on 6 June 2025.

Plot

A multitude of people dances to the tune of electronic music in a rave in southern Morocco. A man and his son give flyers displaying the picture of a missing woman (their daughter and sister Mar) to the attendants to the dance party. A subgroup of ravers tell the man and the boy (Luis and Esteban) that another rave is taking place afterwards deeper into the desert and that the missing woman perhaps could be there. A group of soldiers dissolves the rave and order Europeans to be evacuated. The ravers (Stef, Jade, Tonin, Bigui, and Josh) escape from the convoy line in two vans, and Luis and Esteban follow them in their smaller van together with their dog Pipa. Radio reports that armed conflict between two countries has started. The ravers try to dissuade Luis and Esteban from following them but they insist. Heading south to a location "close to Mauritania", the enlarged group shares mishaps and bonds closer, including Luis paying for the ravers' fuel, Pipa falling ill (reportedly because of having eaten feces contaminated by LSD), the group crossing a river with their vehicles, the group sharing food and fuel, and Tonin improvising a musical number while his leg stump performs a sort of puppetry show. A radio broadcast reports that World War III is taking place. While crossing a mountain pass, one of the vans gets stuck. The group fixes the vehicle but Esteban and Pipa fall off a cliff while waiting behind in Luis' compact van and die.

The remaining group members drive further into the desert looking for help, coming across a nomadic herder who does not pay them attention. Meanwhile, a shocked Luis walks into the desert alone. He is rescued by Jade and Stef. The group uses a psychoactive drug and improvises a rave in the desert with two loudspeakers because Jade thinks it could make some good at the moment. They dance. While in trance, Jade steps on a land mine and dies. Tonin dies by stepping on another mine while approaching Jade. Realizing they have stepped into a minefield, the remaining group members are determined to reach a presumably mine-free rocky area nearby. They use a van with no driver to try to secure a mine free path to the rocky area. The van explodes by stepping on a mine. They repeat the same operation with the second van, which steps on a mine, and changes direction before exploding as it activates a second mine, failing to draw a safe pass to the rocky area. Unfazed, Luis successfully walks a straight line into the rocky area. Bigui follows him and dies. Stef and Josh follow suit with their eyes shut, reaching Luis' destination. Stef, Josh, and Luis are seen crossing the desert on the roof of a train along with other people.

Cast

* Sergi López as Luis
* Bruno Núñez Arjona as Esteban
* Richard Bellamy as Bigui
* Stefania Gadda as Stef
* Joshua Liam Henderson as Josh
* Tonin Janvier as Tonin
* Jade Oukid as Jade

Production

In November 2023, the film, which was still in development, received a production grant of €1.2 million from Spain's Institute of Cinematography and Audiovisual Arts. In January 2024, Movistar Plus+ disclosed a slate of five film projects to be produced by the platform (including Óliver Laxe's alongside Rodrigo Sorogoyen's, Icíar Bollaín's, Alberto Rodríguez's and Ana Rujas's), with traditional theatrical windows but whose end purpose would be airing on the Spanish streamer. Laxe described his then-untitled project as a story about "some rave attendees in Morocco among whom a father and son are searching for their missing daughter and sister", imagining it to be "very hypnotic, and very sensorial". He also referred to the film as his "most political" and "most radical".

In addition to Sergi López and Bruno Núñez Arjona, the film also employs a cast of non-professional actors. Principal photography took place in Spain and Morocco from May to July 2024. Because of funding technicalities, part of the filming was required to be shot in Spain, so locations that could stand in for desert areas in the Moroccan Atlas and Anti-Atlas were actively searched for in Spain. Originally Los Monegros was considered as an option, but Laxe was persuaded to shoot instead in the Rambla de Barrachina by the coordinator of the Aragon Film Commission. Laxe described the area as "chiseled by the gods" and the place reportedly gave him ideas to tweak the screenplay. The production team filmed for a month in the provinces of Teruel and Zaragoza, before moving to Morocco for four weeks, where they filmed near Errachidia and Erfoud. Laxe stated that the production team faced intense heat and sandstorms while filming in Morocco. The film was shot on Super 16 mm film.

Release

The Match Factory acquired the international sales rights to the film on 6 May 2024. The trailer was released on 6 May 2025. The film had its world premiere in the main competition of the 78th Cannes Film Festival on 15 May 2025.

''Sirât'' received a theatrical release by BTeam Pictures in Spain on 6 June 2025. Distributed by Pyramide Films, it is set to be released in French theatres on 3 September 2025.

Following its Cannes premiere, Neon acquired the film for distribution in North America, while Mubi (which owns The Match Factory) acquired it for Italy, Turkey, and India. Altitude acquired rights for the United Kingdom and Ireland, Cine Video y TV for Latin America, Cinéart for the Benelux, Pandora Film for Germany and Austria, Filmcoopi for Switzerland, Transformer for Japan, Challan for South Korea, Andrews Film for Taiwan, Madman Entertainment for Australia and New Zealand, New Horizons for Poland, for Sweden, Fidalgo for Norway, for Finland, Feelgood Entertainment for Greece, Nitrato Filmes for Portugal, for former Yugoslavia, Transilvania Film for Romania, Aerofilms for Czechia and Slovakia, Cirko Film for Hungary, and A-One Films for the Baltic countries.

Reception

Critical response

Upon its festival premiere, ''Sirât'' polled as the best film in the 2025 Cannes Critics Survey conducted by '' IndieWire''.

Jessica Kiang of ''Variety'' called the film a "brilliantly bizarre, cult-ready vision of human psychology tested to its limits". She praised 's cinematography and 's score. Damon Wise of '' Deadline'' wrote, "Part existential road movie, part apocalyptic sci-fi, he film isa puzzling mix of ''Zabriskie Point'' and '' Fury Road'' that starts with a bang but ends in a curiously minor key." He commended Laia Casanova's sound design. Lovia Gyarkye of ''The Hollywood Reporter'' echoed these sentiments, praising Casanova's sound design, but noting that the film "gets muddled near the end". David Katz of ''IndieWire'' gave ''Sirât'' an 'A-' rating, describing it as belonging to a type of film hat is"sui generis and evading any classification, emanating from a wholly personal vision of cinema while not resisting galvanizing, and sometimes crowd-pleasing, pleasures". Renaud Baronian of ''Le Parisien'' found reminescences from the ''Mad Max'' saga in the film, but also from '' Lost Highway'', ''The Wages of Fear'', ''Sorcerer'', ''Zabriskie Point'', ''Gerry'', and ''Nomadland''. John Bleasdale of '' Time Out'' lauded it as "startlingly original, jarringly hilarious and deeply disturbing". Fabien Lemercier of ''Cineuropa'' wrote that Laxe "masterfully succeeds in creating an unforgettable ..experiential film about man and the world, the collective and the individual, being and nothingness, radicality and universality, the intimate and the cosmic." Carlos Boyero of ''El País'' described the film as "strange in the best sense".

Accolades

See also

* List of Spanish films of 2025
* List of French films of 2025

References

External links

*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sirat
2020s Spanish films
2020s Spanish-language films
2025 films
Cannes Jury Prize winners
El Deseo films
Films directed by Oliver Laxe
Films produced by Agustín Almodóvar
Films set in Morocco
Films shot in 16 mm film
Films shot in Morocco
Films shot in the province of Teruel
Films shot in the province of Zaragoza
French thriller films
Movistar Plus+ films
Spanish-language French films
Spanish-language thriller films
Spanish thriller films
Films about missing people
2020s French films
2025 drama films
Films set in deserts
Neon (company) films