A Shocking Controversial Work, The Start of Curiosity and Cannes' Choice The intense and provocative tagline, "Sirat, I didn't know it was the road to hell!" instantly caught my eye. I usually search for information meticulously before choosing a movie, but for this film, I decided to watch it solely based on the promotional phrase "Shocking Controversial Work." The atmosphere given off by the poster and trailer was just that unusual. It was only after finishing the movie that I looked up information about it, and I was surprised to learn that it was the winner of the Jury Prize at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival. The fact that it was not just a movie dealing with stimulating subject matter, but a masterpiece recognized for its artistry and message at a world-class film festival, made the lingering impression of the film even deeper. Perhaps the wave of shock hit harder because I faced the movie without any prior information.
The Changing Flow of Art Films, From 'Emilia Pérez' to 'Sirat' Is it a coincidence, or is my cinematic taste changing unconsciously? Following my viewing of Emilia Pérez, the winner of the Jury Prize at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, I consecutively encountered Sirat, the 2025 winner. I wasn't the type to deliberately seek out "arty" films with deep artistic value. In the past, I tried to watch difficult movies just because they seemed "sophisticated," but I often struggled to fight off drowsiness due to the boringly long takes and ambiguous narratives. However, recent art films have certainly changed. Reflecting the flow of the times, the pace has become faster, showing sensory editing that leaves no room for the audience to be bored. Thanks to this, Sirat also broke the genre prejudice of being an art film, and I was able to immerse myself in the screen with much more concentration than in the past.
The True Meaning of 'Sirat', A Precarious Bridge Over Hell The movie's title, "Sirat," refers to the "bridge over hell that every human must cross on the Day of Judgment" in Arabic. When I pondered the meaning of this word, which I had no knowledge of before watching the movie, I realized that the series of processes shown in the film correspond chillingly with the title. Like walking on a bridge said to be thinner than a hair and sharper than a sword, the journey of the characters in the movie is precarious and anxious throughout. However, until the middle of the movie, I had to question why this title was given and why this movie was called so "controversial." The thrill of realizing that the scenes, which simply looked like the deviation of young people unfolding in the desert, were actually the "road to hell" only upon reaching the ending is substantial.
A Roar Ringing in the Desert, A Bizarre Ritual Beginning with Connecting a Jack As soon as the movie starts, it opens by zooming in on the extremely mechanical and raw scene of connecting a jack to a huge amplifier. Soon, numerous people gathered in the middle of a desolate desert begin to dance to the music. The introduction, which shows a long take of several minutes featuring only the sound of music about to burst and the people dancing in a trance without a single line of dialogue, makes you think, "Art films are indeed different." Why did the director choose to show this scene, which would have passed quickly in a typical commercial film, for such a long and persistent time? I started staring at the screen, thinking that perhaps the intention was to forcibly make the audience participate in the middle of that desert, into their trance.
Ear-Splitting Techno Sound, Walking the Tightrope Between Tension and Liberation The music that hits the ears throughout the movie is not a melody familiar to the public, but repetitive and mechanical techno music. The sharp and rough sound, as if tearing through the speakers, might be annoying to some listeners, but for the characters in the movie, it seems like a tool of liberation declaring a severance from the world. Although a line in the movie says they chose it simply because it is "good music to dance to," this techno beat pouring out consistently breathes tight tension into the entire film. Along with the confusion of "What on earth is this?", listening to the roar spewing through huge speakers in the middle of an empty desert gave me a strange sense of liberation, thinking, "No one would say anything here." At the boundary between noise and music, the movie manipulates the audience's psychology through auditory stimulation.
Father Louis Searching for His Daughter, Incomprehensible Western Family Love? Among the crowds emitting tremendous energy while dancing all night, the protagonist Louis appears with his son. He is handing out flyers to people, looking for his missing eldest daughter. Here, the first question arises. Why is he looking for his daughter in a party venue in the desert out of nowhere? And in Western culture, it is common to become independent (leave home) when one becomes an adult, so why does Louis wander around looking for his daughter as if looking for a runaway teenager? The movie does not explain the specific background of why the daughter disappeared or Louis's desperation. Even the son makes the situation more ambiguous by saying, "It's not that my sister ran away." This unfriendly narrative makes the audience focus on the "act" itself rather than finding the "reason" for Louis's journey.
Military Intrusion and Interrupted Party, The Shadow of the Real World Louis's group, who were handing out flyers, gets information from a group that "there are other rave parties besides this one." However, at that moment, armed soldiers suddenly barge in, forcibly stopping the party and ordering a dispersal. The appearance of public power coming all the way to a deserted desert, not even the city center, to block a party raises another question. Along with the thought, "Do they really have to go this far?", it allows us to guess that a war or conflict situation lies in the background, although not clearly revealed in the movie. Some interpret this scene as a description or metaphor for the tragic massacre that occurred at the Re'im music festival in Israel. The sight of a peaceful scene of pleasure instantly turning into a scene of control and oppression stimulates a chilling realistic horror.
Sprint Towards the Forbidden Path, The Gap Between Cinematic License and Reality Instead of dispersing, the young groups who escaped the control of the soldiers make the dangerous choice to go deeper into the desert. And with the single-minded determination to find his daughter, Louis also chases after them. From here, a full-scale desert road movie unfolds, but from a realistic perspective, scenes that make you tilt your head follow. Seeing them driving relentlessly over rough sand dunes and rocky roads in regular passenger cars or huge camper vans raises the primal question, "Where on earth do they procure all that gas?", regardless of the difficulty of driving. It is a part that should be understood as cinematic license, but due to the documentary-like realistic direction tone, the unreality of these settings stood out even more.
Shock Piercing the Boredom, Tragedy Amidst the Exotic Scenery of Morocco Until the middle of the movie, the endlessly repeating techno music and the boring journey crossing the desert continued, and honestly, I felt it was dragging a bit. However, this boredom was the director's thorough build-up to maximize the shock of the second half. Suddenly, after a certain event that exploded really without warning, the movie drives into a vortex of uncontrollable tension and fear. The filming location is known to be Morocco, and the scenery captured on the screen creates an exotic atmosphere that seems like a strange mix of the colors of France, Spain, and Africa. The shocking event that takes place on this beautiful yet desolate background cannot be described in detail (to avoid spoilers), but it shatters the audience's guard, which had been built up throughout the movie, in a single breath.
Disaster Caused by Free Will, Why Didn't They Stop? The most regrettable thing while watching the movie was the question of "Why did such a thing have to happen?" and the fact that it was eventually their own choice. No one pushed their backs to disobey the soldiers' orders and go deep into the desert. Their choice to leave in search of a free life of their own, rejecting control and oppression, paradoxically led them to death, the most unfree and tragic ending. At the last moment, even though there was an opportunity to go back the way they came, why did they choose the path moving forward? Their recklessness, not stopping even though they could have, seems to show human arrogance and foolishness hidden under the name of "freedom."
Catastrophe Without Warning, A 'Trip to Hell' With Only Loss and No Gain The question of why they didn't choose to turn back when they clearly could have survived if they turned the car around lingers in my head even after the movie ends. Watching the movie, a sigh naturally comes out: "Wow, they're ending it like this here?" Unlike the crisis-climax grammar shown in general commercial films, this movie suddenly explodes an event without any omens or foreshadowing and rushes to catastrophe. It is even more terrifying because it is realistic, like a disaster or death that comes without warning. In the end, their journey became a trip where they lost their precious lives and daily routines without finding the daughter or gaining true freedom. The story of those who fell from the bridge heading to hell, like the title 'Sirat', leaves a long lingering feeling with a bitter aftertaste full of loss and no gain.
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