Atlantique

I found this movie doing research for movies to fulfill Hooptober 8.0's conditions. This was featured on several lists of horror movies either starring or directed by a POC. It was between this and Eve's Bayou, which just didn't look like a horror movie to me. The short description I read sounded like a zombie movie. I figured what the hell. So, let's get this out of the way: this isn't a horror movie. Not at all. Spooky? Sure. Haunting? Definitely. Atmospheric? Yeah. Horror? Not even by half. But is it still good? OH YOU MOST CERTAINLY BET IT IS. This is movie is layered. Layered DEEP. I don't think I could adequately describe all the layers going on here. The movie, co-produced between Senegal, France and Belgium, is centered around a young woman, Ada, who comes from a poor family. She is betrothed to marry Omar, who is rich, but she has no feelings for him. Ada is in love with Souleiman, a day laborer who, as the movie starts, is working on a high rise on the coast of Senegal, and hasn't been paid in three months. Souleiman and his co-workers demand their back pay from the boss, who stonewalls them, so he and the crew walk out. Seeing no opportunity for justice or a way to make a decent living wage, he and his work crew set out on a boat to sail to Spain, where they hope a better life awaits. At Ada's wedding several days later, with Souleiman not having returned, a fire breaks out in the wedding bed of Ada and Omar. Police blame Souleiman (who a friend swears she saw) and Ada. And then many of the wedding guests start breaking out in terrible fevers and paralyzing illness. I'm not going to spoil what comes next, except to say a supernatural element plays heavily into the story, because it really should be watched and experienced as is. What I will say is this movie -- the directorial debut Mati Diop, and the acting debuts of much of the cast, including the astonishingly talented Mame Bineta Sane as Ada -- is entrancing, in so many, many ways. The movie is almost Wellesian in its construction. The score, composed by Fatima Al Qadiri, is simple and minimalist, but in exactly the right way; what is done with, often, two or three instruments at most evokes more emotion and sets a scene better than most full symphony orchestras. The cinematography is masterful; there's a scene early on with Souleiman, defeated from not having gotten his back wages, rides in the back of a pick-up truck with the rest of his crew. They're all singing joyfully; his head hangs low, feeling the weight of his failure and what that means. The camera lingers on him for what feels like an uncomfortable amount of time, and that's by design; it's supposed to make you feel the tension and the disappointment that doesn't just go away when the scene ends (which is helped by the score). The movie wants it to lay heavily on your heart, just as it does Souleiman's. Likewise, there's a shot later on with Ada walking down a busy dirt road towards the camera, and it lasts a long time, and you start to feel the heat ,and her disappointment and burden; the long walk symbolizes her long, seemingly endless struggle against her situation. There's a million more shots in the movie that use cinematography to sell the story; haunting captures of the ocean, brilliant uses of light and shadow. The script is a super-slow-burn story, but not in the bad way. It brings you in with well-drawn characters that have deep emotions and back stories. You don't need a whip-fast pace to keep you involved; the movie pulls you in by making the world feel real. And when the supernatural element is introduced, it feels organic to not only the story, but the world in which its happening. And lastly, the acting. Souleiman's desperation and sadness at failing to get his pay; Issa, the detective, and his dogged pursuit of what he feels is the truth behind the fire, and his reaction when he finds out the actual truth; minor characters like friends and parents, all feeling as authentic as the leads without half the screen time. And Ada. MY STARS, this is acting at its finest. You will forget Ada isn't real. And it all comes together to be produce a fantastic film that examines class struggle, poverty, migration, sexual politics, and love, without feeling preachy or grandstanding. It just tells a story and lets the subjects present their own cases. Are there flaws? Sure. The plot is not 100% airtight (somehow, in four days, the moon goes from a fingernail to full, and Issa's insistence on Ada's guilt hinges on ignoring eyewitnesses), but you won't care. The acting, the camera work and direction, the score, all of it come together to tell a haunting and enchanting tale. Hooptober movie #2/23.