Raver culture is portrayed on social media as a pulsating crowd of young, hot people, scantily clad in neon colors with smiles plastered on their faces. It’s a candy-coated vision of a subculture that’s also full of aging fans, burnouts, and people who take the idea of being a raver too seriously. Such is the side of the subculture Oliver Laxe portrays in his devastating EDM drama, Sirât, which played as part of the 2025 edition of Fantastic Fest. By portraying ravers as well-meaning but delusional, while crafting a world that seems to be crumbling around our characters as if mid-apocalypse, Laxe and co-writer Santiago Fillol craft a singular film that’ll leave you feeling both hollow and desperate to go out dancing.

Luis (Sergi Lopez) is a desperate father looking for his daughter, who went missing a year ago while attending a rave. With his son, Esteban (Bruno Núñez Arjona), and their dog, Pipa, in tow, the two drive to raves, passing out missing posters and asking anyone and everyone if they’ve seen her. As their most recent rave ends, Luis decides to follow a group of middle-aged ravers who seemed to know who his daughter was. In desperation, he revs up their car and starts following this Mad Max-esque caravan of vehicles through the North African desert to find an exclusive rave where he may just be able to find his daughter.

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But, as the saying goes, the road to hell is paved with good intentions. What starts as a dramatic road movie about two worlds clashing slowly devolves into a violent nightmare that, once it starts, never really stops until the credits roll. Sirât, while steady and never boring, burns slowly at first, building a sense of sun-drenched dread that feels unwarranted at first. But Laxe knows how to craft unease, as well as lull his audience into a false sense of security. His pacing is immaculate and ensures Sirât continuously delivers gut-punch after gut-punch. 

Music isn’t just for scene setting in the film; it’s the beating, aching heart of Sirât, pulsating and thrumming from the film’s opening moments, vibrating through the viewer like an electrical current connecting you directly into the film’s frequency. Laxe works with sound designer ​​Laia Casanovas and composer Kangding Ray to ensure that sound design and music never fade out of focus. The hypnotic music by Ray propels the story forward, while the sound design sends shock waves through the viewer’s body with every fresh hell this group of misfits encounters. 

Lopez, expectedly, delivers a devastating performance, but just as impressive is the group of ravers, portrayed by non-professional actors: Stefania Gadda as Steff; Joshua Liam Herderson as Josh; Richard ‘Bigui’ Bellamy as Bigui; Tonin Janvier as Tonin; and Jade Oukid as Jade. They all feel like a found family of outcasts who love to do drugs, listen to music, and dance wherever the party takes them. They are kind-hearted misfits who aren’t jaded young people, but kind-hearted burn-outs who think they know what they’re doing, even in the face of war.

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Laxe drops the viewer into the middle of things with Sirât and relies on environmental storytelling to build his world outside of this little group, which is perhaps the coolest and most frustrating part of the film. Radio broadcasts and brief encounters with the military weave in the idea of war and a potentially looming World War III into the narrative. It feels like the world is on the brink of collapse, and not just for our individual characters. This never becomes the film’s focus, which is purposeful but frustrating as it feels both important and not given enough space to be explored. 

To put it quite bluntly, Sirât is a perfect “watched once, never again” movie, an incredible, visceral experience that’ll have you gasping, yelling, and crying in your seat. This movie, seemingly about music, devolves into a harrowing tale about human nature, desperation, and conflict in increasingly shocking ways that need to be seen to be truly understood. Laxe’s Sirât is technically flawless, a gorgeous film that expertly utilizes sound to craft shock and terror, while also crafting a fascinating story that I only wish went even deeper. See this one in a theater, or wearing your best noise-cancelling headphones, because this is a film you truly want to experience with the best audio possible. Trust me, you’ll be transported into a luscious, dry hell that’s almost like paradise. Almost.

Summary

Oliver Laxe’s Sirât is technically flawless, a gorgeous film that expertly utilizes sound to craft shock and terror, while also crafting a fascinating story that I only wish went even deeper.

Tags: Fantastic Fest

Categorized: Reviews