This week’s bleak weather forecast calls for one thing: Netflix. The endless dreary, dark days are the perfect excuse to hibernate from the world and race through Netflix – and luckily, there’s no shortage of choice.
First on our list? Atlantics, the ghost love story that’s being hailed ‘Oscar worthy’. The debut film from actor and director Matt Ciop debuted at the Cannes Film Festival to critical acclaim earlier this year and last week, it was selected by Senegal as the country’s submission for Best International Feature Film Oscar consideration. Netflix has now secured the rights and it will be dropping on the streaming platform next month.
Starring Abdou Balde, Aminate Kane and Ibrahima Mbaye, the story follows two star-crossed lovers, Ada and Souleiman, who are separated when Souleiman leaves Senegal in search of a better life. When his boat goes missing en route to Spain, Ada is forced to marry a wealthy businessman by her parents, but Souleiman’s spirit has other ideas.
Last week, it was selected by Senegal as the country’s submission for Best International Feature Film Oscar consideration.
At its heart, Atlantics is a love story that explores important questions about religion, ethnicity and migration, all of which is suffused with the supernatural.
In the film’s official trailer, Ada expresses her love for Souleiman despite her impending marriage to Omar, and Souleiman expresses his frustrations at not being paid for three months.
Critics have compared the film to Moonlight and Midsommar. As written by Variety, “after several films and documentaries looking at Senegalese men who make the dangerous Atlantic voyage as refugees… it’s refreshing to focus on the women left behind, facing lives of painful emotional, not to mention financial, interruption.” The Los Angeles Times praised the film for its portrayal of the “global migrant crisis with intense storytelling imagination as well as moral outrage.”
With awards season looming, Atlantic is set to be a strong contender – and rightly so.
Atlantics will be available to watch on Netflix from 29 November.