Direction: Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne
Country: Belgium / France
Picking two non-professional actors who have never acted before to play leading roles in their socially aware new film, the Dardenne brothers continue to provide the same raw feelings and narrative straightforwardness that marked their previous works. Yet, in this ultra-realistic immigrant tragedy set in Belgium they probe a new approach that reveals the darkness and evil behind modern slavery. Whomever this gripping drama is for, it still feels like an observant drama film from the directors who made Rosetta (1999), L’Enfant (2005), Lorna’s Silence (2008) and Two Days One Night (2014).
The inseparable Tori (Pablo Schils) and Lokita (Mbundu Joely) arrived in Sicily from Benim but end up in Belgium, where they are forced into drug crimes and subjected to many forms of exploitation by the heartless owner of a pizzeria (Alban Ukaj) that employs them illegally. Pretending to be siblings, they suffer together with the injustice of the social services and the undeserved punishment inflicted by their exploiters.
The long singing scenes provided by the protagonists are the weakest moments of the film as they break the chain of events. There’s also unnecessary emotional bait in the redundant final scene. Yet, because the script also manages to pack a punch, I believe you’ll be prepared to forgive it. This is a poignant cry of revolt against the fate of minor migrants in Europe. The young actors project a special authenticity that engages the viewer in an emotionally resonant story of true friendship and hope for a dignified, honest life that ends tragically.
