Oliver Laxe’s “Sirât,” took home the Jury Prize at Cannes this year. Sunday it played to an oversold crowd at TIFF during a late night screening that ran into Monday morning.

“Sirât” is a controlled and often punishing film that makes its impact through sound, setting and two committed central performances. Death feels present from the first scene, and even with that inevitability hanging in the air, when it finally comes, the blow is sharp and shocking.

The story centers on Luis (Sergi López) and his young son Esteban (Bruno Núñez Arjona) as they cross the Moroccan desert with their dog Pipa in search of Luis’s missing daughter, who vanished after a rave. López plays a father stretched to the breaking point, his fear and exhaustion pushing him to lean on Esteban for answers. Núñez Arjona, in a breakout turn, brings a calm steadiness to Esteban, flipping the parent-child relationship in ways that feel painfully believable. Along the way, they fall in with a band of nomads who, partly out of necessity, become their adoptive family for the journey.

Visually, Laxe shoots the desert with a harsh precision, making the landscape feel like another antagonist. The sound design is just as important. The pounding electronic score rarely lets up, ratcheting tension until silence hits harder than any beat. The combination creates an atmosphere that is intense, often suffocating, and always deeply immersive.

For audiences, the appeal lies in that immersion. “Sirât” is not an easy watch, but it offers an experience that stays with you. It’s a a look at fractured family bonds under extreme pressure, set against a backdrop that feels both real and overwhelming. It’s the kind of film that demands a big screen, where the sound can be felt as much as heard and the desert can swallow the frame.

As the credits rolled in the Scotiabank Theatre, the audience didn’t speak but broke into thoughtful applause. And as they exited on the packed escalators for the 45-foot journey to the main lobby, you could hear intense and excited conversations spilling into the streets of Toronto. The overall consensus: “Sirât” is a striking piece of work, one that confirms Laxe’s talent for creating cinema that challenges viewers while pulling them into a world unlike any other.

See more TIFF coverage from mixyplix here.