The Dardenne’s “Tori and Lokita” is absorbing for 90% of its runtime. They just can’t stick the landing. That’s alright. It went over well with the Cannes jury last year who awarded the film a Special Jury Prize.
The film is finally being released in the U.S. next Friday. A trailer was unveiled earlier in the week.
The film might not be in the same level as their best work, but it again proves how effective they are behind the camera, constantly luring us into these blue-collar worlds they invent with the help of non-professional actors.
At the Lumiere premiere, when the film ended, someone booed very loudly. It turns out it was The Playlist’s Charles Bramesco who then went on Twitter to spoil the movie’s ending:
“TORI & LOKITA: in the first twenty minutes, Lokita is raped, molested, slapped in the face, and forced into slavery. The film ends with her [REDACTED]. Absolutely fucking useless movie, so lazy in its exploitation and sadistic in its indifference. Fuck off with this!”
Good job man. Of course it was an American that booed. I can already see the narrative: “black actors exploited by white directors.” What a douche to spoil the movie on Twitter like that. He eventually deleted his tweet.
Back to the movie
There is no exploiting of actors in “Tori and Lokita.” Set in Belgium, this is the tale of two orphans, a young boy and an adolescent girl, who have travelled alone from Africa, and become friends. She’s still considered an “illegal” and can’t get her citizenship papers straight to work legally. They both end working for a drug dealer at a Pizzeria and, obviously, things go bad.
It’s exactly what you expect from the Dardennes, but they are excellent storytellers and their camera always seems to be in the right place. This is a story of survival and you feel the desperation almost every minute. It is utterly gripping.
The two exceptional lead performances come from Alban Ukaj and Tijmen Govaerts, both untrained non-actors. The Dardennes love to pick faces we don’t know for optimal realism and it works again here. Bugger off, Bramesco!