Sirāt

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Sirāt
Spanish theatrical release poster
Directed byÓliver Laxe
Screenplay by
Produced by
Starring
  • Sergi López
  • Bruno Núñez Arjona
  • Richard Bellamy
  • Stefania Gadda
  • Joshua Liam Henderson
  • Tonin Janvier
  • Jade Oukid
CinematographyMauro Herce [ca]
Edited byCristóbal Fernández
Music byKangding Ray [fr]
Production
companies
Distributed by
Release dates
  • 15 May 2025 (2025-05-15) (Cannes)
  • 6 June 2025 (2025-06-06) (Spain)
  • 10 September 2025 (2025-09-10) (France)
Running time
114 minutes
Countries
  • Spain
  • France
Languages
  • Spanish
  • French
Budget€6.5 million
Box office$8.8 million[1]

Sirāt is a 2025 drama film directed by Óliver Laxe, co-written by Santiago Fillol and Laxe. It follows Luis (Sergi López) and Esteban (Bruno Núñez Arjona), a father and son in search of their missing daughter and sister in the deserts of southern Morocco.

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 in Spain on 6 June 2025 by BTeam Pictures, and was released in France on 10 September 2025 by Pyramide Films. It was selected as the Spanish submission for the Best International Feature Film at the 98th Academy Awards.

Plot

[edit]

A multitude of people dances to the tune of electronic music in a rave in southern Morocco. A man and his son give flyers with the picture of a missing woman (their daughter and sister Mar) to the attendants of the dance party. A subgroup of ravers tell the man and the boy (Luis and Esteban) that another rave is taking place afterwards, deeper in the desert, and that the missing woman 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 helping to pay for the ravers' fuel, Pipa falling ill (reportedly because of having eaten the ravers' feces contaminated by LSD), the group crossing a river with their vehicles, the group sharing food and fuel, and Tonin improvising a musical number using his leg stump to perform a sort of puppetry show. A radio broadcast reports that a World War III-like conflict is taking place. While crossing a mountain pass, one of the vans gets stuck in a rut. The group manages to free the vehicle, but Luis's compact van rolls backward off a cliff with Esteban and Pipa inside, killing them both.

The remaining group members drive further into the desert looking for help, coming across a nomadic herder who moves away from them when approached. Meanwhile, a shocked, grief-stricken 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 lift everyone's spirits in the moment. They dance; while in a trance, Jade steps on a land mine and dies. Tonin dies by stepping on another mine while trying to reach Jade. Realizing they have stepped into a minefield, the remaining group members are determined to reach a presumably mine-free rocky area nearby. They send one van without a driver to drift forward, to try to secure a mine-free path to the rocky area. The van explodes after hitting a mine. They repeat the same operation with the second van, which also hits a mine, and changes direction before exploding after it activates a second mine, failing to create a safe path to the rocky area. Unfazed, Luis successfully walks a straight line into the rocky area. Bigui follows him and dies after hitting another mine. With great hesitation, Stef and Josh follow suit with their eyes shut, successfully reaching Luis. Stef, Josh, and Luis are seen crossing the desert on the roof of a train along with other people.

Cast

[edit]
  • 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

[edit]
Filming locations in the province of Teruel included the Rambla de Barrachina.[2]

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.[3] 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'), with traditional theatrical windows but whose end purpose would be airing on the Spanish streamer.[4] 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".[4][5] He also referred to the film as his "most political" and "most radical".[6] The film had a reported budget of €6.5 million.[7]

In addition to Sergi López and Bruno Núñez Arjona, the film also employs a cast of non-professional actors.[8] Principal photography took place in Spain and Morocco from May to July 2024.[9][10] 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.[11] 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.[11] Laxe described the area as "chiseled by the gods" and the place reportedly gave him ideas to tweak the screenplay.[11] 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.[12] Laxe stated that the production team faced intense heat and sandstorms while filming in Morocco.[9] The film was shot on Super 16 mm film.[13][14]

Release

[edit]

The Match Factory acquired the international sales rights to the film on 6 May 2024.[15] The trailer was released on 6 May 2025.[16] The film had its world premiere in the main competition of the 78th Cannes Film Festival on 15 May 2025.[17]

Sirāt received a theatrical release by BTeam Pictures in Spain on 6 June 2025,[18] grossing around €1.8 million in its first 24 days in theatres.[19] By 7 September 2025, it had grossed a "robust" €2.7 million in the Spanish box office.[20] Distributed by Pyramide Films, it was released in French theatres on 10 September 2025,[21][22] selling 468,000 tickets over the course of the month.[23]

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.[24][25] 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, Triart Film [sv] for Sweden, Fidalgo for Norway, Cinema Mondo [fi] for Finland, Feelgood Entertainment for Greece, Nitrato Filmes for Portugal, MCF MegaCom [sr] for former Yugoslavia, Transilvania Film for Romania, Aerofilms for Czechia and Slovakia, Cirko Film for Hungary, and A-One Films for the Baltic countries.[26]

The film's festival run also included selections for screenings at the New Zealand International Film Festival,[27] and the 31st Sarajevo Film Festival.[28] For its North American premiere, Sirāt was screened in the Special Presentations program of the 50th Toronto International Film Festival on 5 September 2025.[29][30] It also made it to the 73rd San Sebastián International Film Festival in the 'Made in Spain' section,[31] to the lineup of the 20th Fantastic Fest (for its U.S. premiere),[32] to the main slate of the 63rd New York Film Festival,[33] to the 2025 Beyond Fest lineup,[34] to the 'Dare' strand of the 2025 BFI London Film Festival,[35] to the Santa Fe International Film Festival 2025 lineup,[36] to the international competition of the 61st Chicago International Film Festival,[37] and to the 'Gala' selection of the 38th Tokyo International Film Festival.[38]

Reception

[edit]

Critical response

[edit]
Director Óliver Laxe holding the Jury Prize the 2025 Cannes Film Festival

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 96% of 50 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 8.1/10. The website's consensus reads: "A brutal reminder that the journey can be more important than the destination, Sirât is an unforgettable exercise in tension that wallops its audience like a deafening blast of bass to the face."[39] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 82 out of 100, based on 13 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".[40] Upon its festival premiere, Sirāt polled as the best film in the 2025 Cannes Critics Survey conducted by IndieWire.[41]

Jessica Kiang of Variety called the film a "brilliantly bizarre, cult-ready vision of human psychology tested to its limits". She praised Mauro Herce [ca]'s cinematography and Kangding Ray [fr]'s score.[42] Damon Wise of Deadline wrote, "Part existential road movie, part apocalyptic sci-fi, [the film is] a 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.[43] Lovia Gyarkye of The Hollywood Reporter echoed these sentiments, praising Casanova's sound design, but noting that the film "gets muddled near the end".[44] David Katz of IndieWire gave Sirāt an 'A-' rating, describing it as belonging to a type of film [that is] "sui generis and evading any classification, emanating from a wholly personal vision of cinema while not resisting galvanizing, and sometimes crowd-pleasing, pleasures".[45] 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.[46] John Bleasdale of Time Out lauded it as "startlingly original, jarringly hilarious and deeply disturbing".[47] 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."[48] Carlos Boyero of El País described the film as "strange in the best sense".[49]

Manuel J. Lombardo of Diario de Sevilla gave Sirāt four stars, concluding that the film "invites us to a borderline experience from which it is difficult to emerge unscathed or indifferent".[50]

In June 2025, IndieWire ranked the film at number 25 on its list of "The 100 Best Movies of the 2020s (So Far)."[51]

Accolades

[edit]
Award Date of ceremony Category Recipient(s) Result Ref.
Cannes Film Festival 24 May 2025 Palme d'Or Óliver Laxe Nominated [52]
Jury Prize Won
Prix des Cinémas Art et Essai – Special Mention Won [53]
Cannes Soundtrack Award Kangding Ray Won [54]
Palm Dog – Grand Jury Prize Pipa and Lupita Won [55]
Chicago International Film Festival 24 October 2025 Gold Hugo Sirāt Won [56]
Montclair Film Festival 27 October 2025 Fiction Feature Prize Sirāt Won [57]
Gotham Independent Film Awards 1 December 2025 Best Director Oliver Laxe Pending [58]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Sirāt (2025)". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved 26 October 2025.
  2. ^ "La nueva película de Oliver Laxe, rodada en Teruel y Zaragoza, competirá en el Festival de Cannes". El Periódico de Aragón (in Spanish). Prensa Ibérica. 10 April 2025.
  3. ^ Rivera, Alfonso (15 November 2023). "Spain's ICAA distributes 30 million euros in general grants". Cineuropa. Retrieved 10 April 2025.
  4. ^ a b "Rodrigo Sorogoyen, Ana Rujas, Icíar Bollaín, Alberto Rodríguez y Oliver Laxe dirigen las nuevas películas de Movistar +". ABC (in Spanish). 18 January 2024. Retrieved 17 May 2025.
  5. ^ Hopewell, John (18 January 2024). "Movistar Plus+ Backs Rodrigo Sorogoyen, Iciar Bollain, Alberto Rodriguez Features as Spanish TV Giant Becomes Movie Powerhouse". Variety. Retrieved 17 May 2025.
  6. ^ Zurro, Javier (10 April 2025). "Carla Simón y Óliver Laxe competirán por la Palma de Oro en un Festival de Cannes que encumbra al cine español". El Diario (in Spanish). Retrieved 11 April 2025.
  7. ^ Mato, Mar (5 June 2025). "«Sirat», el filme del año, llega a 183 cines de España mañana" (in Spanish). Faro de Vigo. Retrieved 23 October 2025.
  8. ^ Hernández, Nuria (11 April 2025). "Oliver Laxe, el parisino afincado en Galicia que conquista Cannes: amor por Marruecos y un refugio en una aldea llena de águilas y zorros". Vanity Fair España (in Spanish). Retrieved 11 April 2025.
  9. ^ a b Lang, Jamie (15 May 2025). "Oliver Laxe Sees 'Sirat' as Accessible Art With a Tribal Beat". Variety. Retrieved 15 May 2025.
  10. ^ Artigas, Miguel Ángel (8 May 2024). "El director gallego Oliver Laxe comienza en Teruel el rodaje de su cuarto largometraje". Diario de Teruel (in Spanish). Retrieved 10 April 2025.
  11. ^ a b c Artigas, Miguel Ángel (13 March 2024). "Teruel podría estar presente en el Festival Internacional de Cine de Cannes en 2025". Diario de Teruel (in Spanish). Retrieved 16 May 2025.
  12. ^ MacNab, Geoffrey (13 May 2025). "Producer Oriol Maymo on filming Oliver Laxe's 'Sirat' in the searing desert heat". Screen Global Production. Retrieved 15 May 2025.
  13. ^ Mantilla, Daniel (6 May 2024). "Sergi López y Bruno Núñez protagonizan la nueva película de Óliver Laxe, que se rueda ya en España y Marruecos". Kinótico (in Spanish). Retrieved 10 April 2025.
  14. ^ Rivera, Alfonso (17 June 2024). "Óliver Laxe attends the last party in the desert". Cineuropa. Retrieved 10 April 2025.
  15. ^ Hopewell, John (6 May 2024). "The Match Factory Boards Serial Cannes Winner Oliver Laxe's Next, Starring Sergi López (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved 10 April 2025.
  16. ^ Barraclough, Leo (6 May 2025). "Oliver Laxe's 'Sirât' Debuts Trailer Ahead of World Premiere in Cannes Competition (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved 13 May 2025.
  17. ^ Sanchez, Esther (15 May 2025). "El Español Oliver Laxe Irrumpe En La Carrera Por La Palma Con La Singular "Sirat"". Barron's (in Spanish). Retrieved 15 May 2025.
  18. ^ Ruiz Jiménez, Eneko (10 April 2025). "Los españoles Carla Simón y Oliver Laxe competirán por la Palma de Oro de Cannes". El País (in Spanish). Retrieved 10 April 2025.
  19. ^ Hopewell, John (23 July 2025). "Movistar Plus+ Unveils New Originals From 'Querer's' Alauda Ruíz de Azua, 'La Zona's' Jorge, Alberto Cabezudo and 'Riot Police' Scribes Isabel Peña, Eduardo Villanueva". Variety. Retrieved 17 September 2025.
  20. ^ Hopewell, John (20 September 2025). "Spain's Small Screen Operators like Movistar Plus+ Drive Much of the Local Features Business". Variety. Retrieved 20 September 2025.
  21. ^ Houot, Laurence (6 September 2025). ""Sirat", une dinguerie aux accents de fin du monde signée Oliver Laxe". France Info (in French). Retrieved 17 September 2025.
  22. ^ "En septembre, la fréquentation atteint plus de 9 millions d'entrées". Centre national du cinéma et de l'image animée (in French). 2 October 2025. Retrieved 13 October 2025.
  23. ^ Leffler, Rebecca (10 October 2025). "French box office shows signs of life in September". ScreenDaily. Retrieved 13 October 2025.
  24. ^ Lang, Brent; Keslassy, Elsa (23 May 2025). "Neon Buys Oliver Laxe's Immersive Road Adventure 'Sirât' Following Cannes Debut (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved 23 May 2025.
  25. ^ Dalton, Ben (23 May 2025). "Neon acquires Oliver Laxe's Cannes Competition title 'Sirât' for North America; Mubi takes Italy, Turkey, India". ScreenDaily. Retrieved 23 May 2025.
  26. ^ Dalton, Ben (24 May 2025). "The Match Factory secures wide sales on Cannes Jury Prize winner 'Sirât' including to UK-Ireland". ScreenDaily. Retrieved 24 May 2025.
  27. ^ Jutel, Amasio (9 August 2025). "Five fixes for a fabulous festival". Otago Daily Times. Retrieved 17 September 2025.
  28. ^ Petković, Bojana (17 August 2025). "Zbog velikog interesa publike: Dodatne projekcije filmova 31. SFF-a". Nezavisne novine (in Serbian). Retrieved 17 September 2025.
  29. ^ Rubin, Rebecca (21 July 2025). "Aziz Ansari's 'Good Fortune,' Guillermo del Toro's 'Frankenstein,' 'The Smashing Machine' and More Added to TIFF Lineup". Variety. Retrieved 13 August 2025.
  30. ^ "Sirât". TIFF. Retrieved 12 August 2025.
  31. ^ Ntim, Zac (13 August 2025). "San Sebastian: 'Sirat', 'Romería' & Horacio Alcalá's 'Fragmentos' Among Titles Set For Made In Spain Section". Deadline. Retrieved 13 August 2025.
  32. ^ Grobar, Matt (14 August 2025). "Fantastic Fest Lineup: 'Black Phone 2,' 'Sisu: Road To Revenge,' ' Shelby Oaks,' 'Primate,' 'Vicious' & More Set For 20th Anniversary Edition". Deadline. Retrieved 14 August 2025.
  33. ^ Rubin, Rebecca (5 August 2025). "New York Film Festival Unveils 2025 Lineup: George Clooney's 'Jay Kelly,' 'Sentimental Value,' Park Chan-wook's 'No Other Choice'". Variety. Retrieved 18 August 2025.
  34. ^ Grobar, Matt (10 September 2025). "Beyond Fest Lineup: 'No Other Choice', 'Dust Bunny,' 'Good Fortune' & Many More Titles To Screen At 2025 Festival". Deadline. Retrieved 17 September 2025.
  35. ^ Tabbara, Mona (3 September 2025). "BFI London Film Festival unveils 2025 line-up". Screen Daily. Retrieved 17 September 2025.
  36. ^ Mendoza, Leia (18 September 2025). "'Frankenstein,' 'Nuremberg' and 'Sentimental Value' Among Santa Fe International Film Festival Lineup (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved 21 September 2025.
  37. ^ Kay, Jeremy (10 September 2025). "'Sound Of Falling', 'Sirât', 'La Grazia' among Chicago international competition picks". ScreenDaily. Retrieved 17 September 2025.
  38. ^ Rosser, Michael (18 September 2025). "'Hamnet' to close Tokyo film festival as gala, animation line-ups revealed". Screen Daily. Retrieved 6 October 2025.
  39. ^ "Sirāt". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved 20 September 2025. Edit this at Wikidata
  40. ^ "Sirāt". Metacritic. Fandom, Inc. Retrieved 20 September 2025.
  41. ^ Blauvelt, Christian (28 May 2025). "2025 Cannes Critics Survey: The Best Films and Performances, as Picked by 48 Critics". IndieWire. Retrieved 29 May 2025.
  42. ^ Kiang, Jessica (15 May 2025). "'Sirat' Review: Oliver Laxe's Excruciatingly Tense, Escalatingly Insane Road Trip Through a Desert Purgatory". Variety. Retrieved 16 May 2025.
  43. ^ Wise, Damon (15 May 2025). "'Sirat' Review: Oliver Laxe Brings Sound And Fury To A Mythic Story Of Family And Loss – Cannes Film Festival". Deadline. Retrieved 16 May 2025.
  44. ^ Gyarkye, Lovia (15 May 2025). "'Sirat' Review: Oliver Laxe's Beguiling Film Is a Desert-Set, Techno-Infused Meditation on Death and Grief". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 16 May 2025.
  45. ^ Katz, David (16 May 2025). "'Sirât' Review: Oliver Laxe's Spectacular Film Could Be Cinema's First Rave Tragedy". IndieWire. Retrieved 16 May 2025.
  46. ^ Baronian, Renaud (16 May 2025). "Festival de Cannes 2025 : accrochez-vous, voilà « Sirāt », le premier film choc qui a secoué la Croisette". Le Parisien (in French). Retrieved 16 May 2025.
  47. ^ Bleasdale, John (16 May 2025). "Review. Sirât". Time Out. Retrieved 17 May 2025.
  48. ^ Lemercier, Fabien (16 May 2025). "Review: Sirât". Cineuropa. Retrieved 17 May 2025.
  49. ^ Boyero, Carlos (6 June 2025). "'Sirât': imágenes y sonidos hipnóticos que me dejan colgado". El País (in Spanish). Retrieved 17 September 2025.
  50. ^ Lombardo, Manuel J. (6 June 2025). "Bailar hasta el fin del mundo". Diario de Sevilla (in Spanish). Grupo Joly. Retrieved 17 September 2025.
  51. ^ "The 100 Best Movies of the 2020s (So Far)". IndieWire. 16 June 2025. Retrieved 17 September 2025.
  52. ^ Roxborough, Scott (24 May 2025). "Jafar Panahi Wins Cannes Palme d'Or for 'It Was Just an Accident'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 24 May 2025.
  53. ^ Neglia, Matt (24 May 2025). "The 2025 Cannes Film Festival Award Winners". NextBestPicture. Retrieved 27 May 2025.
  54. ^ Martínez, Beatriz (24 May 2025). "El director español Óliver Laxe gana el Premio del Jurado del Festival de Cannes". Infobae (in Spanish). Retrieved 25 May 2025.
  55. ^ Ross, Rollo; Murray, Miranda (24 May 2025). "Icelandic sheepdog named Panda claims Palm Dog's top prize at Cannes". Reuters. Retrieved 24 May 2025.
  56. ^ Blauvelt, Christian (24 October 2025). "'Sirât' Wins Top Prize at the 2025 Chicago International Film Festival: Full Winners List". IndieWire. Retrieved 24 October 2025.
  57. ^ Lattanzio, Ryan (27 October 2025). "'Sirât,' 'BLKNWS: Terms & Conditions,' and More Win Montclair Film Festival Top Prizes". IndieWire. Retrieved 27 October 2025.
  58. ^ Goldsmith, Jill (28 October 2025). "Gotham Awards Film Nominations: 'One Battle After Another' Leads Pack; Multiple Noms For 'If I Had Legs I'd Kick You', 'It Was Just An Accident', 'No Other Choice'". Deadline. Retrieved 28 October 2025.
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