Movie · 2025 · Drama, Thriller · 1h 55m · R · Spanish
Curator score: 6.2/10 (345.7K ratings)
This is the desert.
Overview
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.
Ratings
Curator score: 6.2/10
IMDb: 7.0/10
Letterboxd: 3.56/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 91%
Metacritic: 84
TMDB: 6.9/10
Director
Oliver Laxe
Production
Movistar Plus+, Los Desertores Films, Filmes da Ermida, El Deseo, Uri Films, 4 A 4 Productions
Cast
Sergi López, Bruno Núñez, Stefania Gadda, Joshua Liam Henderson, Richard Bellamy, Tonin Janvier, Jade Oukid, Ahmed Abbou, Abdellilah Madrari, Mohamed Madrari
Where to watch
Hulu
Curator Review
Verdict
A striking, nerve-jangling desert odyssey that turns rave culture into a survival thriller and spiritual ordeal. It’s not built for easy catharsis, but its sound, imagery, and escalating dread make it a memorable big-screen experience.
Best for
viewers who like atmospheric thrillers
fans of sensory, immersive cinema
people drawn to desert survival stories
audiences interested in rave or club culture
viewers open to ambiguous, art-house storytelling
Skip if
you want a tightly plotted mainstream thriller
you dislike slow-burn, elliptical narratives
you need clear character arcs and exposition
you are sensitive to intense anxiety or distressing animal peril
Overview
Sirāt is less a conventional search narrative than a fever dream about grief, faith, and the seduction of oblivion. It starts with a simple premise, then steadily strips away certainty until the landscape, the music, and the bodies in motion feel like the real protagonists. Oliver Laxe uses the desert as both a physical trap and a metaphysical threshold, and the result is hypnotic in the best and most punishing sense.
Worth noting
The film’s rave scenes are especially effective because they don’t treat the music as backdrop; they make rhythm feel like a force of nature. That sensory charge gives the movie its momentum even when the story stays deliberately spare. The performances are restrained, but the emotional pressure keeps building, and the film’s willingness to sit in discomfort is a major part of its power.
Bottom line
This is the kind of movie that can feel exhilarating, then cruel, then strangely transcendent. It will frustrate viewers looking for neat answers, but for anyone tuned to mood, texture, and existential dread, it’s a vivid and unusual ride.
Top Letterboxd reviews
Kylo (4★) · 8140 likes
The amount of anxiety I had for the dogs in this movie.
Pablo Caldera (0.5★) · 7083 likes
«Hacia el sur, cerca de Mauritania»
Esta frase que se dice en Sirāt es una de las pocas indicaciones espaciales de toda la película. Está bien escogida, porque esconde todo un complejo geopolítico: Marruecos no tiene frontera con Mauritania, y es imposible que Laxe, que ya va por su tercera cinta rodada allí, no lo sepa. Solo si asumes que los territorios ocupados del Sahara Occidental (antigua colonia española que en 1975 fue abandonada a su suerte por la potencia… more
joereid (4★) · 6917 likes
Really thought it was gonna end with everyone dancing in the desert. I really did.
Kit Lazer (3.5★) · 6848 likes
This was like super chill and then ruined my life.