A father and his son arrive at a rave deep in the mountains of southern Morocco. They’re searching for Mar — daughter and sister — who vanished months ago at one of these endless, sleepless parties. Surrounded by electronic music and a raw, unfamiliar sense of freedom, they hand out her photo again and again. Hope is fading but they push through and follow a group of ravers heading to one last party in the desert. As they venture deeper into the burning wilderness, the journey forces them to confront their own limits.
The Garden Cinema View:
Oliver Laxe takes us into the heart of darkness with this sensory overload of endless desert, towering mountains, and apocalyptic rave culture. Drawing on the likes of Fury Road and Wages of Fear, Sirāt is a spectacular visual and sonic experience, with some astonishing photography set to an ever-pounding techno score. The film is nihilistic almost to the brink of parody, or least until the bleakness reaches a tipping point into black comedy. And, to this point, there is something hollow, and overtly edgy in Laxe’s brashness. A technical (and techno) feat, but to what purpose?
