- Kevin Ward4 juli 2025Centered on a trial based on a true life case in which a Senegalese woman killed her own infant daughter, Alice Diop’s Saint Omer mines this extremely unique case for some very harsh truths about motherhood, womanhood, the immigrant experience, …. and so much more. Guslagie Malanda gives an absolutely mesmerizing performance as Laurence Coly, the mother on trial. Her performance is nuanced in such a way that she vividly recounts the killing of her own daughter and yet her testimony, her demeanor, her candor have you on edge of your seat desperate for the possibility that she’s not truly at fault. Our entry into the story isn’t Coly’s perspective. It is actually Rama (Kayiji Kagame), a writer attending the trial in hopes of writing a book about it. Rama discovers numerous parallels between Coly’s situation and her own life, and by extension the audience does too. Saint Omer had me completely engrossed. The two lead performances are excellent and Diop’s direction is really powerfully executed. It’s a complex film that may turn off viewers looking for a more straightforward courtroom drama, but I was incredibly moved. The closing statement from Coly’s defense attorney and the acknowledging glance between Coly and Rama made for a very potent finish. Highly recommend.
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Saint Omer was released on 23 november 2022.
Saint Omer was directed by Alice Diop.
Saint Omer has a runtime of 2 u, 2 m.
Saint Omer was produced by Christophe Barral, Toufik Ayadi.
Centraal in Saint Omer staat Rama, een journaliste die aan een boek werkt over Medea en binnenkort moeder wordt. Haar research brengt haar naar Saint Omer, waar ze het proces bijwoont van Laurence Coly: een jonge vrouw uit Senegal die in Frankrijk filosofie studeert en zwanger wordt van een oudere Fransman. Ze houdt de zwangerschap en de geboorte verborgen, en laat de baby bewust achter op het strand om meegenomen te worden door de vloed. Tijdens haar proces beweert ze dat ze behekst en vervloekt was. De haast onvatbare daad van de vrouw roept allerlei ongrijpbare geesten uit Rama's eigen verleden op. Vragen rond oorsprong en opvoeding, en of ze zelf geliefd en gewenst was door haar moeder.
The key characters in Saint Omer are Rama (Kayije Kagame), Laurence Coly (Guslagie Malanda), Maître Vaudenay (Aurélia Petit).
Saint Omer is rated 12.
Saint Omer is a Drama, Misdaad film.
Saint Omer has an audience rating of 5.7 out of 10.
Saint Omer has made US$ 823K at the box office.