Yes, I’ve been on the Golshifteh Farahani trail again! She is an awesome actress, showing off all her talents here in pretty much every scene as she pins the story together. The film is a bit of a game of two halves. We join her and her son, Amine, living in an apartment in a gritty, tense, working-class suburb of Paris, which is heavily populated by communities with North and Sub-Saharan African roots.
The first half introduces us to Nour flitting through customs - or trying to - smuggling exotic animals to sell to people in the community who believe in Roqya. This is the practice of Islamic exorcism or healing intended to cure afflictions caused by the 'evil eye', jinn possession or black magic (apparently)! In this world, traditional medicine is often mistrusted or financially inaccessible, giving rise to an unregulated black market of local, so-called 'healers', religious figures and mystics.
The second half of the film explodes into a modern-day witch hunt and survival tale. Following a tragic death, the community blames Nour because of her antics peddling the ingredients needed for their ceremonial rituals - especially as her business is taking off with an online app called Baraka, which is drawing loads of interest. She is basically cashing in on their culture, even though she is just as rooted in it as they are. But for them, it is suddenly convenient to find a scapegoat for this death and assemble an unruly mob to hunt her down.
The tone is set in the opening scenes, by the way, which deliver black-and-white sequences that contrast the historical concept of a medieval witch hunt with the grim reality of modern housing projects. But anyway, back to Golshifteh and her character, Nour, who is a fierce, resourceful single mum trying to build a stable life for her small family. There are some cracking early scenes where we see her extracting poisonous frogs hidden inside condoms that she swallowed for her flight from Morocco!
Nour’s new app is an overnight success, which immediately threatens the local, male-dominated network of religious leaders and healers who view her as an economic and cultural threat. Compounding her stress is her toxic, aggressive ex-husband, Dylan (Jérémy Ferrari), who is heavily behind on child support, hostile towards her business and aligns himself with conservative religious men who claim Nour is a corrupting influence - and that Amine needs to be 'purified'.
When the aforementioned death occurs - which is certainly not Nour's fault - the film shifts gear into a relentless, real-time survival thriller. Local religious leaders and influencers take to social media, uploading videos branding Nour a murderous witch and the viral algorithm spreads the accusation like wildfire. Overnight, Nour goes from a respected community member to a social media villain. A violent mob descends on her neighbourhood, laying siege to her apartment block and eventually setting her home on fire while she is trapped inside.
We stay right with Nour as she darts through traffic and back alleys, entirely isolated - anyone who might have helped her turns away out of fear of the mob or a belief in the online rumours. Having lost track of Amine, the mob grabs him so they can forcibly 'purify' him - or at least use him as bait to lure her out. She must navigate the darkest corners of the underground market, utilising every ounce of her survival wits to stay one step ahead and work out how to rescue Amine.
The problem is that even if they do survive all this, what next? Their lives in the community are finished and they would simply need to get out and away. Perhaps they won't, though - which seems increasingly likely as we see what the mob is doing to Amine in the name of religious 'cleansing'. I shall leave you to find out via the crashing, gory finale!
The film is well shot, frantically paced and chaotic - often using a lot of handheld camera work as we race around the city with Nour as she is chased. It makes deep points about the nature of modern life versus old customs and beliefs - a community using cutting-edge smartphones and social media algorithms to organise a witch hunt that belongs in the 17th century.
The acting is first-class from the whole cast, especially Golshifteh, of course, but also Amine Zariouhi, who plays her son (sharing the actor's actual first name). For me, it’s a powerful look at the exploitation of ageing cultures - and ultimately, a case of science over religion.
No comments:
Post a Comment