With Sirat, Oliver Laxe makes his debut in the Official Competition at the Cannes Film Festival 2025, and leaves with the Jury Prize, awarded ex aequo. The film also received the Cannes Soundtrack Award and the Grand Prize of the Palm Dog, solidifying the Spanish filmmaker’s status as one of today’s leading auteurs. Sirat is scheduled to hit French theaters on September 10, 2025.
Directed by Oliver Laxe and co-written with Santiago Fillol, the film features Sergi López, alongside Bruno Núñez Arjona and Richard Bellamy. Shot in the barren mountains of Saghro, east of Ouarzazate, it blends existential drama, sensory experience, and a spiritual road movie, in a bold, minimalist style that stays true to the filmmaker’s signature approach.
Having worked his way through the parallel sections of the Cannes Film Festival, from which he returned with his arms full (Prix du Jury Un Certain Regard, Prix FIPRESCI, Grand Prix Nespresso), Spain's Oliver Laxe arrives in this year's Official Competition with Sirat, a hallucinatory road movie... and our first favorite of this 78th edition.
In Morocco's Saghro desert massif, the rave party is in full swing. This is where Luis(Sergi López) arrives, accompanied by his son Esteban. He is looking for his eldest daughter Marina, who has disappeared. An unfamiliar world opens up to him, that of dreamy ravers on the bangs of society, modern-day acrobats with whom he embarks on a roadtrip across the Saharan desert, in search of the next party his daughter might attend.
A true film trip, Sirat sets the mood right from the start with an opening scene of a sensory party. The camera moves between the participants (all non-professionals), to the rhythm of techno. All that's left to do is let yourself be carried away by the work's soaring rhythm, supported by particularly meticulous sound work (by Kangding Ray), between soul-piercing drone waves and waves that come and go. Suspended moments that carry, embrace and warm.
Beyond breathtaking landscapes, the freaks race forward at full throttle in their customized trucks, closely followed by their father. The real world feels distant (though a conflict rumbles on somewhere), as the vastness of space and the fluidity of time seem to fade away. But then, a tragic event shatters the moment of joy, plunging the story into a , much like waking up after a rough night.
The film then becomes something else, taking its place as the interloping heir to Clouzot's Wage of Fear. It may be criticized for its unnecessary - even perverse - electroshock effect, which undermines a well-committed narrative, but Sirat is sure to leave no one indifferent.
The title Sirat carries a dual meaning: in Arabic, it refers both to a path and to a symbolic bridge connecting hell to paradise. This duality permeates the entire film, which is envisioned as a journey that is both physical and spiritual. Oliver Laxe openly acknowledges the influence of Abbas Kiarostami, particularly The Taste of Cherry, in his approach to exploring death as a reflection on life itself.
With the exception of Sergi López, the cast primarily features non-professional actors selected for their vulnerability and delicate presence. The soundtrack, composed by Kangding Ray, is a key element: it guides the film's evolution from raw, visceral techno to a more refined, almost intangible auditory texture. Sirat stands out as the director's most successful collaboration to date with a composer.
Produced notably by Pedro and Agustín Almodóvar through El Deseo, and for the first time backed by a Spanish network (Movistar Plus+), Sirat marks a significant milestone in Oliver Laxe’s career. It’s both his most approachable film yet and his most daring and radical work to date.
Sirat
Film | 2025
Release date: September 10, 2025
Drama | Running time: 1h54
Directed by Oliver Laxe | Starring Sergi López, Bruno Núñez Arjona, Richard Bellamy
Country: Spain
Straddling the line between sensory experience and existential meditation, Sirat delves into the tension between shadow and light, loss and transcendence. Awarded at Cannes, the film continues a unique artistic trajectory that probes the boundaries of human endurance through extreme landscapes and stories of transformation.
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