Sirât - IFFDAY

Official selection

Travel/Road MovieAdventurePsychology/Mystery/Suspence/ThrillerFood/BeverageMusic/DanceDisaster

In Arabic, ‘Sirat’ refers to the bridge over hell that every soul must cross on the Day of Judgment. Sirât, a road movie by Oliver Laxe, is a ‘cinematic trip’—an intoxicating journey through rugged mountains and vast deserts, where Morocco is rendered like an alien planet. At the same time, Sirât is a powerful musical experience. The film focuses on a community organizing a massive ‘rave.’ Hundreds of dancers light up the night, moving to the pulse pounding techno beats. But Sirât is also an existential journey—a father searching for his missing daughter. While traversing this apocalyptic landscape, he confronts the depths of his own soul. The dust-blown trucks and neo-punk ravers evoke George Miller’s Mad Max: Fury Road (2015). Sirât also exhibits qualities of a metaphysical adventure film, much like William Friedkin’s Sorcerer (1977), which follows men transporting explosives through the jungle. One of the most shocking films at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival, Sirât is an unforgettable sensory odyssey—an overwhelming experience of sight and sound, and a modern-day pilgrimage across the threshold between life and death.

Programme note by SEO Seunghee