Page - 209 - in JRFM - Journal Religion Film Media, Volume 05/02

these workers, Souleiman (Ibrahima Traoré), is reluctant to leave his lover, Ada (Mama Sané). Yet the 17-year-old Ada is betrothed to another man, Omar (Ba- bacar Sylla), a person of wealth and local prestige; their Muslim faith might be the only thing they have in common. Ada’s traditionally minded religious friends view Ada’s promiscuity with Souleiman disparagingly, while her liberal friends are simply excited about Omar’s big house and Ada’s new chic bedroom. Atlantique takes a turn towards the fantastical during Ada and Omar’s wed- ding night, when a mysterious fire spontaneously appears on the new couple’s mattress, prompting a police investigation and plenty of unease. Has Soulei- man somehow returned from his ocean voyage, enacting revenge upon his lost love? It appears the souls of the boys lost at sea have returned in a spiritual somnambulist form as djinn, possessing the bodies of their former lovers when night falls. There are some parallels to the Senegalese film Touki Bouki (Djibril Diop Mambéty, SN 1973), which follows two young lovers on their journey out of Dakar to a new life in France, only to have the love of homeland cause a rift between them. Indeed, Atlantique’s Mati Diop is the niece of Mambéty; it as if she is possessed by the spirits of her relatives within her own exquisite film. While space does not permit me to offer a deeper analysis, I should mention that the Islamic faith is also significant in the following critically acclaimed films from Cannes: The Unknown Saint (Alaa Eddine Aljem, MA 2019), For Sama (Waad al-Kateab and Edward Watts, UK/US 2019) and It Must Be Heaven (Elia Suleiman, FR/CA 2019). UNLIKELY CATHOLIC MARTYRS AND SAINTS Films like the painterly masterpiece Portrait de la jeune fille en feu (Portrait of a Lady on Fire, Céline Sciamma, FR 2019), the wistful yet inert Frankie (Ira Sachs, US 2019) and the genre-defying mindfuck Bacurau (Kleber Mendonça Filho and Juliano Dornelles, BR 2019) each made subtle nods to Roman Ca- Fig. 6: Atlantique (Mati Diop, France/Senegal 2019). Press Still: Cannes Film Festival. Festival Review: 72nd Festival de Cannes | 209www.jrfm.eu 2019, 5/2, 204–213