Atlantics

Topping things off, groups of ill women rise from their beds at sunset to square unfinished business like possessed by jinns and spirits – or simply because they are indeed affected by a rare and mysterious condition akin to the Nodding disease known to “turn people into real-life zombies”?!

Atlantics can be seen as telling a haunting, tragic story. Despite its ethereal style, and a semblance of magical-realism, it is mostly grounded in the drama of reality; suffice to say, it is not your usual “ghost story.” In fact, films like Atlantics, or Beatriz Seigner shamefully underrated Los Silencios, actually use the mystics, or mythical and supernatural elements, to cleverly address serious subjects such as immigration, lands protection, war, and its cause or consequences. However, if we were to talk purely genre, Atlantics bends and breaks the rules, as. after the big twist – and once the mystery is revealed – things play out pretty straightforwardly. At times, viewers will feel like they are watching an arty fun, almost comical zombie flick a-la The Dead Don’t Die, at others, it will make one wonder if they are watching something more spooky with occult forces or evil entities at play (or maybe just people making pranks about being ones!), or even, something tonally graver bordering thriller/horror movies about cases of possessions. One can say Diop purposefully decided to expose things as they are, and from the moment we “really see things,” nothing is subtle or meant to be – as opposed to films like the aforementioned Los Silencios playing the long game even if audiences have their suspicions. That being said, Diop still has viewers wondering the hows or whys, and this is where the detectives/police procedural aspect of the film comes in handy. It keeps us intrigued and engaged, and it helps that Ada is not your typical “silent observer.” She is the one who will ultimately take control of the situation.

“…use the mystics, or mythical and supernatural elements, to cleverly address serious subjects…”

On another hand, and as previously stated, Atlantics is also a film with an important message, so even if Diop completely flips genre halfway-in into something more fantastical, she never loses sight of the film’s intimate core and the bigger picture: its socioeconomic and geopolitical thematics encompassing issues such as comfort and money vs. love and passion, capitalism vs. poor and oppressed. Hence risks of deadly borders crossing for wealth vs. exploitation and despair. All of this intertwined, support the film’s, not necessarily message, but comment or exposé about migrations. Story of migrants stranded at sea – or worse – is sadly not uncommon nowadays, and in recent years, we had few other poignant onscreen depictions, particularly with Styx or the series Years and Years that provided us with one of the most gut-wrenching TV moment of the year subverting the narrative.

Atlantics is a film to be appreciated as an experiences, but for some viewers prone to the “conventional” it might be “a little slow,” or a bit too “art-house” (or else…), as we are often presented images of the sea and the shiny reflection of the sun accompanied with sounds of rolling waves. The eponymous ocean, and its shimmering vision, often used as cutaways, is more than ever omnipresent.

Additionally, by turning bright sunshine into soft lights, the film has a unique way of creating an atmosphere where everything seems gently moving, going with the flow or, alluringly moody. The cinematographer Claire Mathon (who also worked on another festival hit, Céline Sciamma French film Portrait Of A Lady On Fire), likewise used nightclub lasers lights in a way that materialize as more melancholic and calming, than electric and upbeat – as it is normally intended. Besides, during those club scenes, Atlantics proved to be the film that most cleverly uses nightclub mirrors (and nope, girls are not looking at themselves, making sure they’re hot while dancing!)

As if its story wasn’t already captivating enough with a uniquely hypnotizing visual, Atlantics also offers an eerie, eclectic, transporting soundtrack and score, by Fatima Al Qadiri, an experimental musician of Senegalese roots like Diop.

Atlantics might not be getting its due this award-season, or can be seen as under-hyped, but in a year particularly filled with interesting cinematic offerings of the highest quality, it is one that rightfully deserves a spot amongst the best. Furthermore, with Diop as its director, it helps make the small group of them being made by a woman (or the handful of WOC filmmakers) grow for the better and not be an exception but the norm. And, to boot, the film could not be more in line with 2019 with its “if you can’t eat the rich, spook them with a crew of possessed fierce women looking for literal payback” attitude!

Atlantics is currently streaming on Netflix.