Horror logo

"Saloum" Review

A culturally shocking Shudder original

By Breanna LudemanPublished 2 years ago 4 min read
1

Welcome to a land where rivers flow with revenge and everyone has a secret. In this west african crime thriller, director Jean Luc Herbulot explores the cultural issue of child soldiers in Africa, using the Sine-Saloum region of Senegal as the main backdrop. There are a number of political cultural references that went right over my head as I have no knowledge of the region. By the end of the film however, I was definitely following along and was able to share the emotional duress of the characters. When the twist is presented, the entire film shifts in tone and a little in genre(which I won’t describe, to avoid spoilers). This caught me a little off-guard–but again, in the end I was not only understanding, but in awe of the way the story was playing out. I can say with absolute confidence that I never knew what was going to happen next.

A group of mercenaries known as Bangui’s Hyenas fight against Guinea-Bissau’s 2003 coup d’etat. They extract a drug lord, along with his gold, and are set to deliver him back to Dakar. On the way however, something has happened to the plane and the crew makes an emergency landing outside of Sine Saloum–where they are welcomed to a couple of beach cabins for the price of helping out with chores around the camp. Things take a turn for visitors and hosts alike when the dark secrets of both the resort and the characters begin to come to light.

Acting

Performances in this movie are stellar across the board. The trio of main characters each have a clear identity and the actors are able to bring them to life without over exaggeration. There is a good amount of sign language used by a few of the characters and even their silent acting is entertaining, as the performers’ movements are well animated. Especially impressive is actress Evelyne Ily Juhen, whose character Awa is deaf and in turn has to sign for the entire role–yet her character is just as lively and distinctive as any other.

Sound

Mimicking the backdrop of west africa, the soundtrack is both culturally sound and bright with an edge of darkness. Residing out of Paris, composer Reksider hails himself as an electro pop artist with a “french touch”. It is clear from his range of work on several films that he can develop any sound design for any concept. His originality shines in this artful film depicting this small corner of the world.

Visuals

The first half of the film is packed with really fun, bright, and crisp visuals. There are some really great aerial shots of the desert and the color saturation is beautiful. After the tone shifts about halfway through the film, the cinematography becomes darker and in certain parts, grainy. This is done on purpose to follow the narrative and works well. There are visual effects in the second half of the film which are not badly done, but were kind of hard for me to follow. Avoiding spoiler territory, the effects work visually but the characters' physical interaction with them didn’t make sense to me, which made me take the situation a little less seriously. I thought the technique used for the flashbacks were interesting, using camera movement to make the viewer feel disoriented.

Plot/Characters

In the beginning I was really confused by the politics in this film and I wasn’t sure if the main characters were the protagonists or the antagonists. But that was due to my own lack of understanding of the region and to be honest, politics in general. By the end I did have enough of an understanding to follow the plot and enjoy the whole of the film. Even if I never grasped the concept though, the character work was well entertaining enough to keep me watching. Even the gruff, rude character has a charm to him that is seemingly hard to resist. The genre twist caught me off guard and I wasn’t sure how I felt about it, but the cast kept me going and in the end I was really glad to have watched the journey through to the end.

Is It Scary?

As much as I enjoyed this movie, I do not at all consider it a horror. It’s a thriller at best, but even so there isn’t any true horror to it–other than the scary reality of young boys being forced into war, anyway. I can understand the horror categorization after the genre switch, but it still isn’t what I would consider terrifying. Suspense and thriller would just be better titles for this film.

TLDR;

Don’t trust anyone who offers you a free beach vacation. 4/5 stars

For a list of trigger warnings, I suggest using doesthedogdie.com.

movie reviewpsychologicalpop culture
1

About the Creator

Breanna Ludeman

While I am only just diving into the world of professional writing, I have been writing my whole life. I have always had an immense passion for the written word. I especially love to write about film and music. Welcome to my world.

Reader insights

Be the first to share your insights about this piece.

How does it work?

Add your insights

Comments

There are no comments for this story

Be the first to respond and start the conversation.

Sign in to comment

    Find us on social media

    Miscellaneous links

    • Explore
    • Contact
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms of Use
    • Support

    © 2024 Creatd, Inc. All Rights Reserved.