An enigmatic sci-fi-adjacent Moroccan mystical mood piece – which is a term, I never thought I would use.

Sophia Alaoui spins a weird and beautiful tale of Itto (Oumaima Barid), a Berber who has married into a wealthy French-speaking family and is heavily pregnant. She feels out of place and is left to fend for herself when strange phenomena starts to happen. There are lights in the sky and animals start to behave strangely.

For a while, the tension is Itto trying to find a way to get to her husband Amine (Mehdi Dehbi). As a woman travelling alone, she is vulnerable but finds a connection with Fouad (Fouad Oughaou), another Berber, and the animals she meets on the way.

It takes a while for us to work out what’s happening and, even when we do, it’s through a veil that keeps an expected movie logic just out of view. It feels like it’s about spiritualism and it’s not afraid to take some swipes at religion – not at a notion of a creator, but of any belief that keeps us disconnected from each other. In this way, it seems to have an earnest and rather wholesome message, spelled out in words and metaphor. Itto and the ewe was rather a beautiful set piece and I suspect there is some correlation between the Berber people and sheep that went over my head.

It’s original title translates to ‘Among Us’, which is a much more accurate title though perhaps less memorable. It might be too obtuse for some, but this will stay with me for awhile.

Director: Sofia Alaoui
Origin: France, Morocco, Qatar (2023)
Language: Arabic, Berber, French with English subtitles
Genre: Drama , Sci-Fi

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