A Movie for the End of the World

Added: 2026-05-19

[00:00:00]There's a saying goes You know that feeling when a movie comes out that you're really excited to see, but you know it's something you have to be in the right vibe [music] for? The brutalist or perfect days, these are personal examples of that for me.

[00:00:15][music] It has nothing to do with the movies themselves, keep in mind, but more so my own headspace in the moment.

[00:00:20][music] I don't want my first watch of something to be heavily influenced by my own baggage [music] or bad mood. It feels kind of unfair to the movie. And if you're a fan of this channel, and I sure [ __ ] hope you are, you know that I have enough innate movie bias in the first [music] place without the day-to-day baggage we bring into the theater. The positive way to put it is, I want to see [music] it when I'm ready to receive it. That's how Park Chan-wook's entire filmography was for me last year. [music] That's how Tarsem Singh's The Fall was for me. And now that perfectly defines my relationship with Oliver Laxe's Sorcerer, a film for the end of the [ __ ] world. Now, even with all that preamble, I was still completely blindsided by what Sorcerer actually [music] is. So, all of my pussyfooting around with watching really served no purpose. It just delayed this video. It couldn't matter less what my headspace was for Sorcerer because this movie filled all the space in my head for the 2 hours I watched it, and that space cannot be freed up until I make this exact video. So, here it is. Like and subscribe, if you want. The IMDb premise and the only thing I knew about its story is that a father is searching for his daughter at a rave in the desert of Morocco with his young son. But the vibe just felt off from the trailer.

[00:01:39]Something was off-kilter about this movie, but I didn't know what it was until I watched it. Now I get why I had that gut feeling.

[00:01:47]>> [music] >> I knew nothing spoiler-wise, but the very DNA of Sorcerer is apocalyptic. The premise promises a mystery or a thriller, but the movie is something else. The first 30 minutes of Surogat introduce us to Luis and his young son Esteban as they walk through a rave in the desert. The two are showing a picture of the missing daughter to strangers [music] and eventually come upon a small group of people who don't recognize her, but tell them that they're heading to another rave somewhere else and that maybe she'll be there. We don't know much about any of these characters. See, [music] Surogat's story is told more like a nightmarish parable or [music] more fitting a mirage. I'm not upset with the lack of characterization because the movie is trying to evoke a feeling in you through filmmaking alone. No backstory really, although we do understand [music] a little through brief lines of dialogue from various people, but Luis and his missing daughter, for example, is not a fleshed-out relationship. In fact, no spoilers right now, but the daughter is not the MacGuffin or goal of Surogat.

[00:02:51]There really [music] isn't one. Surogat is not a mystery. It feels more like a monument. These rave-goers dance and move in front of this giant wall of speakers stacked up by men in the opening scene of the movie. This is clearly a ritual, a religion, and it's what they all want to do despite whatever else might be going on. For example, the military then arrives and tells everybody to disperse, not because they're in trouble or shouldn't be raving, [music] but because there is a state of emergency in effect. See, there's something going on off-screen in Surogat that drives the overall tone of the movie. It would seem that some global conflict is in motion. People are scrambling for gas and talking about World War III. This is not a main plot point of the film, so when selling this to someone, I would never say it's about World War III or characters doing this and that during World War III. It's too [music] subtle of a thing going on. It would feel like false advertisement. But part of Surogat's unwavering tension does rely on this global conflict going on off screen. The new group of ravers break from the evacuation line and make a run for it. And Louise [music] decides to follow them because his daughter might be at this next rave. But as Louise and his son [music] follow this group, the world around them becomes more and more apocalyptic. [music] And the stakes keep raising and tragedy begins to occur. And at multiple points [music] in Surrogates, I thought to myself, "Why are these ravers going to such great lengths just to do this?"

[00:04:24]Louise is looking for his daughter, so I guess if he were [music] desperate enough to find her, I understand making this dangerous trek out here. But as the movie goes on and the daughter becomes less and [music] less of the focus, you start to key in to what Surrogates is doing. So the group forms this sorcerer-like caravan as they drive on unstable mountainous terrain, across rivers, across sand-stormy desert plains in the middle of what could be World War III. All to get to a rave and maybe but it's incredibly unlikely that he finds his daughter. That cannot be worth it.

[00:04:57]But for these people Louise is traveling with, it just is worth it. Because it's their life. It's what they love to do.

[00:05:04]It's the god they worship. It's all they know, all they care about. And when things get so bleak and so bad, what else are you supposed to do but the thing you love to do? I know that's a very simple and maybe even shallow way of putting this and the movie is not as openly life-affirming as I'm making it out to be. In fact, I would say Surrogates is permeated with a sense of overwhelming pointless tragedy throughout. For one, that's life. But again, this movie is more like a mirage than it [music] is a detailed character-driven story. You're meant to watch the actions as they play out and identify with the broader emotions being conveyed scene to scene. Emotions being personal and external catastrophe, regret, and [music] a deep wanting.

[00:05:48]Another spoiler, but around an hour in, I realized that the search for Louise's daughter was not really what the movie was about. The daughter is far from Louise's main priority by the end of Sarat. [music] The synopsis I'd read on Google that got me interested in the first place was completely inconsequential to the final product.

[00:06:05]This movie is hard to describe, but easy to experience. It's immersive, oppressive, and the oddest work of post-apocalyptic fiction I've seen in some time. It's a freak, an outcast of a movie that brings [music] you out to the middle of a wasteland just to tell you nothing matters and everything will die.

[00:06:24]But with it [music] comes this odd sense of comfort to that bleak sentiment.

[00:06:28]There's no escaping what's out of your control. All you can do is keep moving forward and [music] never look back, or try not to if you don't have to. The only big spoiler I'll reveal here is for the sake of themes. The final set piece in Sarat takes place in a minefield, and it's probably the most tense I've been watching a movie this year. The blind faith it requires to just move [music] forward ignoring all the fear of what's happened in the past or what will happen or could happen. And as Louise says, >> [music] >> "Just try not to think. Move your body.

[00:07:01]A body in motion stays in motion." So yes, my takeaway from this movie was one of inspiration. But before the end, a lot of tragedy, [music] a lot of death, a lot of jaw-dropping moments of violence. There is a biblical amount of suffering in Sarat, [music] but it's done in such a tasteful and poetic way, often being carried out with a real heartbeat of a score. [music] The accompanying rave music that fills so many scenes in Sarat was composed for the film by musician King Ding Ray.

[00:07:31]Dark, [music] industrial tinged techno music blasting from dusty subwoofers in the middle of a barren wasteland is a combination that you don't know you need until you watch it. Turn the volume way up for the entire movie. Watch it with headphones on. There's a reason it was nominated for best sound. Not just for the music, but some jump scares. [music] Yes, there are shockingly effective jump scares in this movie. The sounds of these beaten-up vans traversing the chaotic landscape, it's all just really cool. Surat is also gorgeous if you have not noticed from the footage I've been showing. And sometimes I found myself rewinding just to look at some of these wide [music] shots. Especially of the caravan driving along a mountain or through a sandstorm from this great [music] distance. It's a beautiful looking and sounding movie. It's streaming right now on Hulu as well, and you should all go watch it if you have it. I can't wait to rewatch this now that I know what I'm getting into and I can spend more time just soaking up everything this film is saying and showing and playing for you. This movie is kind of hard to talk about, but if you've seen it, I hope I did a good enough [music] job at least expressing what's great about it in my opinion. But whatever I missed about the film, please fill in those blanks in the comments.

[00:08:43]I'd love to talk to you guys about this movie or comment [music] anything you like. I I'd love to hear your thoughts on whatever you want. Thank you so much for watching. Be sure to like and subscribe if you want to and I [music] will see you guys in the next one.

[00:08:56]Later.