Marrakech Film Festival 2024: Silent Storms

Alongside being heavily associated with evil spirits and jump scares, ghosts in cinema have also been used as metaphors for trauma and grief, as was the case in The Devil’s Backbone and Under the Shadow. This also holds true in French-Algerian writer-director Dania Reymond-Boughenou’s Silent Storms where the dead are haunting reminders of Algeria’s civil war. The premise is a fascinating one, which brings together some marvellous visuals and touching performances. However, Reymond-Boughenou’s script is impenetrable at points, meaning that viewers will also become lost amidst the swirling sandstorm.

The plot centres around journalist Nacer (Khaled Benaissa), who becomes interested in an unusual yellow sand when it’s pointed out to him by some elderly men. They tell him that it’s the result of Djinn’s curse that was caused by the violence during the decade-long war, which supposedly brings back the dead. Although Nacer initially doesn’t believe accounts of locals being reunited with deceased relatives, he soon finds himself face-to-face with his wife Fajar (Camélia Jordana), who was killed during the conflict. As the storm clouds loom above in the sky and the strange dust begins to spread, something is about to happen as more of the dead begin to appear.

As intriguing as this central premise is, the supernatural elements largely remain in the background. Rather, the film focuses predominantly on the connection between Nacer and his wife. Despite being fully aware of her death, Nacer accepts her story that she is simply back from a trip to Canada. In fact, every character, except for Nacer’s brother (Mehdi Ramdani), seems to be unaware that ghosts are walking among them. There’s no further explanation about why this is, nor is there a deeper exploration of the trauma that’s brought about the ghostly storm. Instead, the filmmaker asks audiences to come along for the ride, which often leads to confusion more than anything else. Without much signposting, most of this feature’s narrative is rooted within its evocative imagery and poetic dialogue, the most powerful of which are found within the final stretch when the foreboding storm finally arrives.

Silent Storms is a conceptually interesting study of collective trauma with a dash of folk horror thrown in. Its spellbinding cinematography and provocative writing conjure a wide range of emotions. However, it’s difficult to follow what exactly is supposed to be happening.

Andrew Murray

Silent Storms does not have a release date yet.