BEST OF FESTS

LE CRI DES GARDES

2025 / 109 min / color

Claire Denis, a titan of French cinema, sets her latest film against the backdrop of a sprawling infrastructure project in West Africa. Behind the double gates of a guarded compound, site manager Horn (Matt Dillon) and young engineer Cal (Tom Blyth) live in isolation. They’re soon joined by Horn’s new wife, Leone (Mia McKenna-Bruce). The characters’ peace is shattered when Alboury (Isaach de Bankolé), a stranger from a nearby village, unexpectedly appears at the fence. He demands the return of his brother’s body, claiming he died on the construction site earlier that day. Utterly determined, he refuses to leave the protagonists in peace until his request is granted. Unfolding almost entirely in the course of a single night, within the framework of a dense psychological thriller, Denis explores colonialism, racism, and the wall that – both literally and metaphorically – divides people. Eric Gautier’s striking nocturnal cinematography lends the story a sensual and symbolic dimension.