Film Review: Sirat
A 2025 Cannes-Recognized Film
INTRODUCTION
This is a quick review of the newly released film Sirat. Please note that this is just one of the many movies I will have watched each year, and my initial grade for this film may change over time, for better or worse. To stay up to date on my thoughts about other movies and any potential changes in my opinion on this one, follow me on Letterboxd.
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PLOT
Via Letterboxd: A man and his son arrive at a rave lost in the mountains of Morocco. They are looking for Marina, their daughter and sister, who disappeared months ago at another rave. Driven by fate, they decide to follow a group of ravers in search of one last party, in hopes Marina will be there.
REVIEW
Sirat may have been seen by plenty of festival-goers since its Cannes premiere back in May, but being in the market that I am, I had to wait until mid-November for it to finally reach me. This is a film that has been unusually wily in its marketing. Many critics whose reviews I’ve read or watched hinted that they couldn’t say much, insisting it’s better to go in blind. As far as I knew, this was a movie about a desperate father and son searching for a missing loved one in the middle of a desert, forced to drift from rave to rave for answers. So, after all that waiting, was it worth finally seeing for myself as to why so many of my fellow critics urged me to know as little as possible? Absolutely.
In many ways, the journey our protagonists undertake mirrors the film’s own evolving tone. It begins as a story about a frantic search for a missing daughter and sister, but that search leads them deep into the desert, tailing an eccentric group of party-goers chasing rumors of an elusive, grand rave out in the wilderness. Over time, the father and son don’t just fall into step with this wandering group, they seemingly start to almost lose sight of why they’re in the desert at all.
The movie’s tone and narrative shift dramatically from act to act. What starts as a gripping journey slowly transforms into a tense thriller, and by the second hour it feels like it has morphed into an outright horror film. The quest to find the missing daughter, or that rumored rave, falls away once our protagonists must simply fight to survive a desert landscape so unforgiving, so punishing, that consequences are felt for even daring to cross its wilderness.
Technically, the film absolutely shines, taking full advantage of its sensory potential. The cinematography is striking, the score can be exhilarating, and the sound design is phenomenal. Several rave sequences made me wish I were watching this in a Dolby theatre rather than at home via screener link, just to feel the physical boom of the music.
The movie’s twists and tonal pivots arrive without warning, and when they come, they’re downright jarring. I can see this losing some viewers as the runtime progresses. Its drastic tonal shift makes it feel almost like the film tricks you into revealing what it’s actually about; but for me, that was a compliment. It pulls the rug out with purpose, and it executes that shift extremely well.
Like others have said, it’s best to experience this as blind as possible. I can’t go much further without risking spoilers. But Sirat is a sensory feat, its entertaining, shocking, disturbing, horrifying, and absolutely lingers after the credits roll. It doesn’t quite crack my top tier of the year, but it comes extremely close. A Solid B+ from me; easily one of the best international films of 2025.
“TL;DR”
Pros: Incredible technical aspects make this a feast for the senses, particularly when it comes to the sound; Fascinating thriller that will sneak up on you in the dramatic shifts in tones and story arcs
Cons: The twists could be especially jarring for some in a way that will make the film feel uneven in execution; Finale might have been a little too ambiguous given all it set up in the journey to get there
GRADING
