One of the few surprises this edition of Cannes offered me was Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne latest movie – Tori & Lokita, and the chance to meet them. The film highlights the immigration issues caused by the Belgian law, a theme largely disputed in the two brothers films, and it tells the story of Tori & Lokita – two children of about 12 and 16 years old who arrive in Europe from Africa and pretend to be brother and sister, in order for Lokita to receive her official papers and remain in the country with Tori. Lokita is the eldest, so she’s responsible for keeping Tori in school and earning some money. She has to pay the couple who helped them get to Belgium and send money back home to her mother, so she can send her brother to school. She sings in a bar with Tori and delivers drugs for a mischievous chef who runs his business from the basement of an Italian restaurant. Even though Tori & Lokita are not real brother and sister, their devotion and love for one another are indestructible – and probably the most heart-warming aspect of the film. Otherwise it is the most cruel and explicit movie the Dardenne’s have made so far – and we’re talking about two directors who’ve always settled with little when judging the Belgium social system. Now they seem angrier than ever and have you keep your breath until the end – which is not a happy end. 

Laura Mușat

+ posts

Film producer and founder of ADFR, she dreamed since she was little of having a magazine one day. Alongside her job as editor-in-chief, she writes the interview of the month. She loves animals, jazz music and films festivals.

This author does not have any more posts.