Film Review: LES ENFANTS ROUGES: Lotfi Achour’s Terrific but Devastating Drama is Incredibly Moving and Powerful [Locarno 2024]

Les enfants rouges Review

Les enfants rouges / Red Path (2024) Film Review from the 77th Annual Locarno Film Festival, a movie directed by Lotfi Achour, written by Doria Achour, Sylvain Cattenoy and Lotfi Achour and starring Ali Hleli, Wided Dabebi, Latifa Gafsi, Yassine Samouni and Younes Naouar.

Les enfants rouges is a devastating, emotional and bone-chilling tale from Tunisia which is competently directed by filmmaker Lotfi Achour. It is a film of shaken emotions where harsh realities take over for some families struggling to make a life for themselves. Ali Hleli stars in the film as a young boy named Achraf who witnesses an act of violence towards his cousin, Nizar (Yassine Samouni), which is simply brutal, vicious and terrifying. This movie starts off difficult to watch because of the initial graphic violence but soon becomes impossible to take your eyes away from because of the complex and disturbing themes the movie portrays. It’s simply a thought-provoking and fearlessly made masterpiece.

Achraf is a shepherd who just wanted to enjoy some time with Nizar by interacting with him. A group of vicious men come along and knock them down. Nizar is beheaded. When Achraf comes to, he is told to take the head of Nizar to his family to let them know these men mean business. Achraf can hardly function. He’s forced to look at the body of his cousin which is separated from its head and Achraf bags it up in order to take it home. These scenes are frighteningly haunting and shed light on the kind of fear that is going on within the central character of the picture. Achraf picks up a frightened baby goat and brings it to a young girl named Rahma (Wided Dabebi in a remarkable piece of acting). She finds it cute but is soon about to learn what is in the bag Achraf has put to the side.

The families of the village Achraf lives in come to learn of the situation that has occurred. Nizar’s mother will not bury just the head of her son. She wants the rest of his body as well and the local villagers must try to get Achraf to give them an idea of where this unspeakable act of violence occurred. Against the odds, they go out in search of the body while Achraf has visions of the now deceased Nizar where they interact with one another.

Wided Dabebi is amazing in terms of the performance she gives in this film. She and Ali Hleli masterfully convey the bond these two characters develop after the loss of Nizar who she may have one day married if this tragedy had not unfolded. These characters are extremely well-created and the movie sheds insight on the turmoil and fear within their hearts as they realize the life they’ve come to know may be in jeopardy. While Achraf left school, his life may change yet again after these events but the body of Nizar must first be given a respectful goodbye. That much is certain.

Latifa Gafsi as the mother, Mbarka, is superb in a performance that will stick with the viewer due to the passionate sorrows her character painfully expresses while other supporting roles are well integrated into the film such as that of the older Mounir (Younes Naouar) who has to come to terms with an unspeakable loss. Danger lurks around the corner and it’s no longer safe to exist as the villagers’ lives will never be the same as the story moves on.

Les enfants rouges is so powerfully rendered that it’s almost impossible to look away from the screen after the initial attack occurs early on in the picture. The direction by Lotfi Achour is always probing and never once feels like it hits a false note. Rather, the audience will be deeply moved by the family’s attempt to bring back the body of Nizar. When a video surfaces online of the events that transpired, the harsh realities of the situation get even harder to escape for all involved.

Ali Hleli carries the movie through his expressive mannerisms and gives an emotional performance that is certainly one of the greatest aspects of the movie. While Wided Dabebi offers sophistication through her characterization, both of these performances together are ultimately at the heart of the movie. Ali Hleli is forced to perform some difficult scenes here and is never anything less than believable and heartfelt. It’s superb work. Dabebi transforms before our eyes into a young girl who will be forever affected by the events that occur in the movie. Although Yassine Samouni’s role is mostly performed in Achraf’s vision sequences, Samouni acquits himself admirably with a fine performance that is full of emotion and determination.

If the tremendously appalling nature of what happens in the opening scenes may make Les enfants rouges (Red Path) hard to initially watch, the acting, the nature of the human drama and the power of the emotions found within the story line all coalesce to make this one of the very best films I’ve seen recently. It’s hard to shake this film from your memory and the effect of this movie will last on the viewer long after the end credits roll. It’s an astoundingly well made dramatic picture of the highest caliber.

Rating: 9.5/10

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