Sirât (2025) Movie Review: An Exhilarating Apocalyptic Modern Myth of Pure Adrenaline

Rarely does a film announce its intentions as boldly as “Sirât,” the remarkable new feature from writer/director Oliver Laxe. Laxe’s previous films have certainly made bold stylistic choices that drew attention, but the shocking opening of “Sirât” feels like a promise made to the viewer, ensuring that they will not be the same by the time that the film wraps. Although it’s bracingly modern with its creative use of technology and thoughtful analysis of family structures, “Sirât” is a classical story about a descent into hell made by desperate characters forced to work together by convenience. The classic French film “The Wages of Fear” infamously served as the inspiration for William Friedkin’s 1977 masterpiece “Sorcerer,” and “Sirât” is both aesthetically and quality-wise a deserving third chapter in this unusual trilogy.

Set deep within the midst of Morocco, “Sirât” follows the helpless father, Luis (Sergi Lopez), who travels in search of his daughter, Mar. Accompanied by his son (and Mar’s younger brother) Esteban (Bruno Núñez Arjona), Luis quickly finds himself overwhelmed by the rave culture that had turned the desert into a pulsating, explosive musical cacophony. European soldiers raid the area and remove some of the attendees, but Luis is able to connect with a group of ravers who have escaped the area, as they’re on a mission to find an area close to Mauritania. Luis strikes up a deal to work alongside them, hoping to find his daughter on the other side. However, the shocking global events that occur on the periphery seem less important as Luis and his new group of accomplices find themselves within a hellish landscape of traps and danger.

Comparisons to “The Wages of Fear” and “Sorcerer” can be made based on the literal vehicles and set pieces at play, as the notion of a rickety truck on the verge of a cliff is lifted almost directly from the respective classics. However, Laxe’s version is not only unique in the stunning, wondrous environment he found within the natural Moroccan desert, but also in the unique and surprisingly affecting emotional center to the story.

Luis is often a contemplative, quiet character who does not provide details about the nature of his relationship with his daughter, but subtle clues are dropped as to why they’ve found themselves on the opposite sides of what has become a conflict. In Sirât, the stakes escalate at such a breathless pace that each new danger forces Luis—and the audience—to continually second-guess the true intentions at play. Certain sequences are so captivating that the context is void, as the goal is entirely one of survival.

Sirât (2025) Movie — A still from “Sirât” (2025)

“Sirât” gives clues as to the conflict that is emerging outside of the confines of the narrative, with various religious, ethnic, and political feuds cited as potential predecessors to World War III. Laxe has personally cited “Mad Max” as an inspiration, as the ability to find a chase narrative within a crumbling society bears a lot in common with the stunning apocalyptic wasteland that George Miller crafted over the course of his mythic saga of action films. At the same time, Laxe’s influence included the studied, meticulous pacing of Tarkovsky (“Stalker,” in particular) with the epic scope of American western artists like John Ford. There’s even a touch of Francis Ford Coppola and “Apocalypse Now,” as the unceremoniously cruel ways of both environmental and human nature found in the latter half of “Sirât” feel like a descent into hell.

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“Sirât” is among the most accomplished technical achievements of the year, with an overpowering, exhilarating score by Kangding Ray that helps announce and predict pending moments of contrivance. Even though the film is paced briskly, as it’s hard to find a moment to breathe within its breathless 115 minutes, Laxe also has the patience to find moments of silence in which his characters are left blubbering and wordless as they recover from the immediate repercussions of post-traumatic stress disorder. Although the film begins by introducing its motley cast of characters as an eclectic band of larger-than-life archetypes, they are slowly brought back to reality as the tension becomes even more palpable. By the end, the audience might be asking how they would respond to a similar situation. There’s no easy answer, and “Sirat” ends without giving an obvious moment of catharsis.

As punishing and shockingly transgressive as “Sirât” is, it’s also a very intimate story about the regrets, realizations, and resistance of a middle-aged man who has found himself in a world that he no longer recognizes. Any degree of comfort that Luis has with a given situation is almost instantly eradicated when he’s presented with a new task.

Lopez is one of Spain’s great actors, but has certainly earned most attention for his villainous roles. His sinister performance in Guillermo del Toro’s masterpiece “Pan’s Labyrinth” is likely to be the most recognizable among international viewers. There was perhaps even more pressure placed on Lopez to succeed within a film as technically complex as “Sirat,” as offering a human face to place within the fractious environment was needed in order to justify the film’s symphony of suspense. It’s a tough, often unsparing performance, but Lopez deserves all the credit possible for finding serenity within a film so unpredictable.

What’s most striking about the series of gutpunching reveals and unpredictable plot twists that occur as “Sirât” barrels towards its riveting conclusion is that Laxe never feels sadistic or ill-intentioned in subjecting his character to suffering. Although many of the identifiable leads are faced with cruel fates matched with bitter irony, there’s something involving (if not necessarily inspiring) about the strength of spirit needed to take part in such a doomed quest. “Sirât” encapsulates the worst-case scenarios that have been prophesied throughout the last decade as the world teeters closer to collapse, but it’s also a transcendent, mythic adventure worthy of Homer or Sophocles. Laxe may have once been considered a rising star, but “Sirat” has solidified his status as one of the most exciting filmmakers working today.