The Ghosts: Presented in Cannes, one of the best thrillers of the year can be seen in cinemas

dangerous liaisons

A brilliant professor of literature, Hamid (Adam Bessa) leaves his native Syria after the civil war and comes to Europe to seek asylum. A young man surviving on menial jobs under the table in Strasbourg actually seems to be looking for someone. But for what reasons?

With the help of a secret network that seems to have the same goal, Hamid collects evidence and evidence. But when he thinks he recognizes the man he’s looking for (Tawfeek Barhom), he ends up having doubts and begins to question his project.

Documentary and interesting feature film

Screened at the opening of the Critics’ Week at the 77th Cannes Film Festival, Les Fantômes is director Jonathan Millet’s first feature film. Indeed, the filmmaker is best known for Ceuta, the Sweet Castle, a documentary that offers a fascinating dive into the daily lives of migrants on their journey. Acclaimed by critics and the public, this major point in Jonathan Millett’s filmography testifies to his first love for the documentary genre and the accuracy of handling social subjects that are close to his heart.

So much sensitivity is justified by his atypical youthful journey: “At the age of 18, armed with a camera, I set off without a specific destinationhe says. I find myself traveling the world with my camera, especially going to the most remote regions. I will cross and photograph Iran, Sudan, Pakistan, all of South America, Africa and the Middle East. This is how I start learning to capture faces, spaces, trying to capture the atmosphere in a few shots.

Around the age of twenty, I moved to Aleppo, where I began to learn Arabic and made many friends. A few years later the war started and some of my friends from Aleppo sent me a video of the conflict and a neighborhood completely destroyed by the war. They emigrated to Istanbul, where I found them several times, in Turkey, then in Germany, in the center of the Syrian community. This is the beginning of their long migration, which I will follow step by step.“

Jonathan Millett’s first feature film, backed by years of research and verification, dozens of screenings and miles of travel, vibrates with a disturbing authenticity and manages to capture the historical and political essence of the conflict that the story ghosts use to frame.

Performers are aware of the weight of the story they carry

But Les Fantômes, far from being a one-shot take on reality, shines with the quality of its writing. The story, co-written by Jonathan Millett and Florence Rochat, borrows from noir and espionage films, but also from the greatest dramas in their almost palpable gravity, through the management of dramatic tension and the presentation of issues.

Hamid’s character deftly brings nuance and power at the same time. Inhabited by a desire for justice, both troubled and tormented by his traumatic past, this ghostly figure convinces by the magnitude of his motivations as much as he is moved by his inevitable flaws. Morally troubled, Hamid walks the streets of Strasbourg to find the one he seeks, convinces himself, doubts, decides, hesitates again…

Absolutely brilliant in this contrasting role, Adam Besa leaves a lasting impression. Already awarded the Best Actor prize at Cannes in the Un certain regard pour Harka category, he proves his talent to be limitless in this new unforgettable performance. Shot in extreme close-ups by Jonathan Millett, her face oscillates between resolution and deep pain, allowing us to glimpse all the complexity of a very large actor’s performance.

In a well-documented project that seems constantly between bursts of semi-fury and the most absolute despair, Jonathan Mille accompanies the long journey of mourning and the desire for justice for the victims of war, ending with his own. Talent as well as his performers, the first great film.

The Ghosts, currently in theaters.