‘The Story of Souleymane’ Review: A Superb Lead Electrifies a Propulsive, Compassionate Immigration Drama
variety.comJessica Kiang It’s not only because of its similar time frame that Boris Lojkine‘s hurtling, headlong social-issues drama “The Story of Souleymane” recalls “Two Days, One Night” by the Dardenne brothers.
Lojkine’s film, which was awarded the jury prize and a well-deserved best actor award in the Un Certain Regard competition in Cannes, is similarly invested in its electrifying lead — non-professional Abou Sangare, making an unforgettably persuasive and poignant debut — and similarly effective in maintaining a level of urgency and high-stakes personal peril that few genre thrillers can muster.
If the hero’s dire situation is a ticking clock, Lojkine’s intelligent and empathetic film places us right alongside him, with each cog of circumstance and each gear of good fortune grinding against him at every turn.
Souleymane (Sangare) is a recent arrival in Paris from Guinea, who sleeps in homeless shelters at night and works as a delivery biker by day using a “borrowed” account for which he pays a hefty cut of his earnings to the real owner, Emmanuel (Emmanuel Yovanie).
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