Saint Omer

Alice Diop reinvents the courtroom drama in this concentrated, gripping study of a writer and the young African woman accused of murdering her own daughter. Based on a true story.

Acclaimed as a documentarist, notably for 2021’s Nous, Diop turns to fiction with this riveting, stylistically spare take on the courtroom tradition. Kayije Kagame plays Rama, a writer who travels to northern France to follow the trial of Laurence (Guslagie Malanda), a young African woman accused of killing her daughter. As she listens to the various testimonies, Rama’s own condition – as an artist, a lover and a Black woman in France – also falls into a questioning perspective.

Co-written by Goncourt-winning novelist Marie NDiaye, this finely observed film features mesmerising performances from Kagame and Malanda. It’s a compelling work that sees Diop achieving maturity as a fiction director right off the bat.