Film Review: SAINT OMER (2022): Filmmaker Alice Diop’s Courtroom Drama is Captivating and Marvelously Acted

Saint Omer Review

Saint Omer (2022) Film Review, a movie directed by Alice Diop, written by Amrita David and Alice Diop and starring Kayije Kagame, Guslagie Malanda, Xavier Maly, Thomas de Pourquery, Salimata Kamate, Robert Cantarella, Aurelia Petit and Louise Lemoine Torres.

Alice Diop’s heavy but absorbing dramatic French film, Saint Omer, is certainly one of the most thought-provoking movies of the past few years. With a captivating story line, this movie will immediately grab the viewer and it doesn’t let go of the audience’s attention throughout the entire picture. Diop’s direction is all the more impressive considering most of the film is set in a courtroom.

The excellent Guslagie Malanda plays a Black woman named Laurence Coly who is a former philosophy student who had set her baby of 15 months into the sea to die. Coly’s story piques the interest of an inquisitive and talented writer named Rama (the formidable Kayije Kagame). While there is talk of this story resembling the myth of Medea, Coly’s story is even more complex in nature than it seems from the outset. There is plenty of ambiguity in regard to certain plot details of the film, but Diop nevertheless leaves the audience pondering the possibilities of what goes on in the human mind versus what happens in actuality in the real world.

The character of Coly had grand ambitions in life. She was an intelligent woman. However, she became involved with a man named Luc Dumontet (the well-cast Xavier Maly), a sculptor who didn’t seem to take a truly active interest in the baby they ended up having, Lili. Dumontet asked what Coly was going to do regarding her pregnancy, but they are both the parents, a fact he neglected to realize. One of the most powerful scenes of the film shows Dumontet in court trying to pretend that he didn’t have a distant relationship with Coly and their child.

Coly ends up attributing her actions regarding killing her baby to “sorcery” but there’s seemingly no evidence to back that theory up. Coly says she had called psychics, but these psychics apparently don’t have any recollection of having conversations with her. Furthermore, Coly doesn’t seem to have the writing abilities to match her obvious outer intelligence. This is all fascinating material which Diop superbly turns into a startling and powerful picture that is, above all else, thought-provoking beyond a reasonable doubt.

Kagame’s character, Rama, is easy to understand. She’s pregnant, herself, and has a future ahead of her that seems bright but through immersing herself in Coly’s dark world, Rama will ultimately change her outlook on life forever. Salimata Kamate expertly plays Coly’s mom, Odile Diatta who tries to understand the complexity of the drama the film presents regarding Coly’s life.  Kamate is an amazing actress and makes her character heartbreakingly realistic.

Aurelia Petit also shines as Coly’s lawyer Ms. Vaudenay who adds a great deal of depth to her scenes. This is a fine piece of acting that is one of the two best supporting roles in the picture, the other being Kamate’s. Guslagie Malanda, however, commandeers this film with her layered performance as Coly. It’s hard to understand what she’s been through, but we keep watching her and keep wondering why things happened as they did. Why is not an easy question to ask in these particular circumstances, however. Malanda turns in a truly forceful performance.

Saint Omer is a movie that doesn’t offer any easy answers to the difficult questions it raises. It provides its audience with heart-wrenching scenes that are mostly set in a courtroom where all the inner details of the plot will be brought into the light, however dark they may be.

Kagame and Malanda will leave you spellbound with their remarkable characterizations in Saint Omer. As the film’s ending suggests, a bond between a mother and a child is everlasting even if it’s just from a biological standpoint. This film has plenty of fascinating plot developments throughout. Diop’s movie is simply mesmerizing and is must-see.

Rating: 9/10

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