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Desert raves and apocalyptic doom collide in 'Sirāt,' one of the year's most talked about films
Oliver Laxe’s film Sirāt uses a desert journey to highlight climate scarcity and spiritual questions, winning a Cannes jury prize and Spain’s Oscar submission.
- On May 24, 2025 Director Oliver Laxe won the jury prize at Cannes, and Sirāt begins a one-week Oscar-qualifying run on Friday as Spain’s submission, with Neon planning a wider release in early 2026.
- Earlier this year the director traced the film’s origins to 2011, framing Sirāt as a therapeutic work meant to move viewers and make them `look inside`, unlike most audiovisual productions `made for destruction`.
- A primal beat and radio chatter about World War III propel the film’s apocalyptic tone as Sergi López and Bruno Núñez Arjona flee with a caravan of ravers across a desert where water is scarce.
- Critics compared Sirāt to The Wages of Fear and Sorcerer, leaving Oliver Laxe facing high expectations after Cannes and during TIFF appearances.
- Amid sandstorms and summer heat, director Oliver Laxe shot across southern Morocco with a non-professional cast recruited from raves, continuing his image-driven method from previous film Mimosas.
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'Sirāt' is a desert survival story — and one of the year's most gripping films
Sirāt tells the story of a man searching for his lost daughter at a rave in the Sahara Desert. Though it carries echoes of earlier cinema, nothing about this film feels derivative or secondhand.
·Washington, United States
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Total News Sources12
Leaning Left4Leaning Right0Center6Last UpdatedBias Distribution60% Center
Bias Distribution
- 60% of the sources are Center
60% Center
L 40%
C 60%
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