- Directed by Telal Salhami
- Written by Jawad Lahiou, Talal Selhami, David Villemin
- Stars Sofia Manousha, Younes Bouab, Omar Lotfi
- Run Time: 1 Hour, 33 Minutes
- Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCQ5QoaGWUA
Spoiler-Free Judgment Zone
This was a good one. Extra interesting because it was set in Morocco, that we don’t often see in horror movies. Well done, with a slowly unfolding mystery of what’s happening now and what happened in the past. Thoroughly creepy and disturbing.
Synopsis
“Ashura” is a religious celebration in Morocco where children splash water on each other and celebrate with bonfires. It is also called “Child’s Night.”
A long time ago in Morocco, a boy and a girl sneak away from the celebration to hide in the cornfield. She’s married to an old man, and is not happy. She made the boy a whistle to call her. When they hear her husband’s voice, they run to an abandoned building to hide. Something on the ceiling turns into smoke and takes the young girl… credits roll.
Today, Youssef is late for school. Ali obsessively watches recordings of interrogations; his boss says it’s a waste of time since this is a closed case. Elsewhere, a boy, Hakim, wanders into an abandoned factory and runs into a pair of very strange squatters: one is a prisoner of the other. The prisoner has something growing inside him.
We see that Ali is Youssef’s father, and he’s separated from his mother, Nadia. Nadia goes to Stephane’s opening; he’s an artist of creepy paintings. Stephane tells the story of his recurring dream about sleep paralysis and a creature that stares at him before choking him. “Monsters are a reflection of our society.” Now he’s going to share his nightmare through his art. “I know what abducted Samir, and I need your help, Nadia,” he asks as he puts on a strange mask. Suddenly, everyone is wearing masks but her.
Twenty years ago, Nadia, Ali, Stephane, and Samir were playing. Nadia tells them a story about “The French House,” a place that eats kids, on the far side of the corn field.
Nowadays, we see that Samir is the prisoner in the old factory. Hakim comes back to visit Samir and asks why he’s chained up. Hakim takes the gag off. The thing inside Samir escapes and gets Hakim. Two detectives come looking for Hakim, who is now missing. Elsewhere, a young boy tries to sleep but ends up hiding under the bed from a monster. Samir breaks in just afterward, and the parents knock him out. Detective Majd calls Ali about the weird man they captured who won’t speak. Ali recognizes Samir, who is his brother, after all these years. Samir insists that he wasn’t abducted; he needs to stop Bougatate.
Back in the past, we watch Samir go into the cornfield alone. Samir runs into Bashira, the girl from the pre-credit sequence. She says she’s lost. Bashira says she needs help for her friend at the house, and all four children follow her. They all hide in the house.
In the present, Stephane explains that they all swore to remember, but they all forgot. When he started to remember on his own, he painted the creature. This all upsets Nadia, who starts to remember as well. Nadia then runs into the Bougatate at school but is saved by the old man who had been holding Samir prisoner. Ali shoots the old man, mistaking him for a threat, and the monster flies off with another young girl. Ali and Nadia take Samir to see Stephane, and everyone is happy to see him after all these years.
Back in the past, the four kids explore the French House. They find an old man wearing a gag much like Samir was in the beginning. He, too, has something inside him that comes out when little Samir takes the gag off. They all see the creature as it tries to eat Stephane. The old man breaks in and can control the thing with a whistle; he forces it to go into Samir. The old man then ties up and gags Samir and takes him away.
“How do we kill it?” Adult Ali asks. “I swallow it,” answers Samir. Stephane has researched the Bougatate, a type of demon who eats childish joy and innocence. Ashura is the perfect time for it to feed. Meanwhile, the Bougatate only has eyes for Youssef. Ali blows the whistle and forces the monster back into Samir. Samir then jumps out the window, killing himself and the monster inside.
Except it doesn’t work; now the Bougatate is on the loose. Nadia grabs Youssef and hops in the car, but the creature pursues them, and they crash. When Nadia wakes up, Youssef is gone, and Ali, Stephane, and she are on the way to the French House. The floor is covered in small skulls and bones. They find Youssef, but Bashira’s still inside the creature. They pull her out, but the monster absorbs Stephane.
Ali blows the whistle and drives the monster into… Youssef. Ali and Nadia then drive away, guardians of the boy who holds the monster inside.
Commentary
It’s very visual, with lingering, sometimes awkward, shots of faces, places, and things.
It’s an interesting mystery seeing what happened to Samir and why. The creature is a blend of practical and CGI effects, and it mostly looks really good.
I have no idea if this was just a random idea for a horror movie or if the Bougatate is an actual local legend from Morocco, but it had the feel of a legendary creature.
It was good.