STACK #259 May 2026

MOVIE FEATURE

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GENRE: Thriller adventure RUN TIME: 1h 55m

Directed by Oliver Laxe, the Oscar nominated Sir ā t is not your typical narrative movie. Instead, it’s more of a journey - a strange hypnotic experience where you’re drifting through a dream (or nightmare) alongside the characters. T he story follows a father named Luis, played by Sergi López, who travels explores themes of the individual versus the collective during times of unbearable tension DESERT RAVE! A FATHER’S JOURNEY – SIRĀT

Bruno Núñez and Sergi López

ready to join this family of mutilated people.” Sir ā t opens with an epigram taken from Arabic scripture, referring to a mythical bridge conjoining heaven and hell. It’s also a term meaning “the path” or “the way,” hinting at routes both physical and metaphysical. “I like this idea that to get to paradise, sometimes you have to go through hell,” says Laxe. “This is the essence of the movie – that heaven and hell are not these closed or separate rooms; you have to go through one to get to the other, something Luis experiences on his own journey.” Gill Pringle

into the Moroccan desert searching for his missing daughter. She was last seen at a rave, and that’s where the film really begins to unfold. If you’re expecting a straightforward “missing person” story, Sir ā t will probably surprise you. The plot is deliberately loose. Instead of focusing on clues and investigation, it drops the audience into a nomadic, almost otherworldly rave community of people living on the fringes. An uncompromising visionary, Laxe’s film taps into the tumultuous and terrifying times we are living through. A hero’s journey turned inward, he

and turmoil, embracing transcendence whilst also offering hope, connection and perseverance in dark times. “ Sir ā t addresses the war that is looming large in our world, one in which we will be obliged to ask ourselves what it means to be human,” says Laxe. “As cultural walls and class distinctions erode, Luis – who hails from a different social context as the ravers he meets - discovers he is just as wounded and broken as his companions. “But the ravers I have known, and the ravers that inspired and appear in this film, are already in dialogue with their wounds. Luis, for his part, must decide whether he’s

• Sir ā t is out May 6

IF YOU LIKE THIS, YOU’LL LOVE THESE:

It Was Just an Accident, The Way My Way, The Last Journey, Leave No Trace

GOING APE. PRIMATE UNLEASHED! GENRE: Horror RUN TIME: 1h 29m

It’s been a long time since a killer chimp has terrorised the screen. Enter Primate , the jarring new chiller from director Johannes Roberts ( The Strangers: Prey at Night ).

T aking place over the course of one night at a swanky clifftop mansion in Hawaii, the story follows a pet chimpanzee infected with rabies that unleashes hell upon his owners and their friends. It’s a tense, gruesome, suspense driven exploit that will have you gripping the armrest. You might assume Roberts is paying tribute to classic horror movies like Monkey Shines or Link . However, his direct point of influence was actually the 1983 adaptation of Stephen King’s Cujo . “For me, it opened up a whole new kind of horror based in real situations, not vampires and monsters,” Roberts explains. “I instinctively understood the way that the director Lewis Teague and the

cinematographer Jan de Bont were manipulating the audience. I knew right

then that I wanted to direct films like that.” When conceiving

Primate , Roberts began thinking about other kinds of family pets that might develop an appetite for

Troy Kotsur

a name for himself with films like F, 47 Metres Down, and Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City . It’s a genre he feels at home in, permitting him to flex his creative muscle. “I love the horror genre, both as a director and a movie fan,” he says. “As an audience member, I love being scared in a safe environment. As a filmmaker, it allows me to play in a fantasy world that is a lot of fun,

where the director’s job is manipulating the audience. The goal is to get them to jump and scream all together. It’s a very communal, theatrical

killing. Chimps have a reputation for abrasive and violent tendencies, giving him the perfect candidate. “Chimpanzees can be evil, terrifying creatures in real life. They hunt other animals and even other chimps for food. They fly into rages,” he says. “The more research I did, the darker the picture became.” Primate is Roberts’ latest in a long line of horror movies. He made

experience.” Glenn Cochrane

• Primate is out May 6

IF YOU LIKE THIS, YOU’LL LOVE THESE:

Cujo, 47 Metres Down, Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City.

24 MAY 2026

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