Sideshow and Janus Films have dropped the clip for Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne’s “Tori & Lokita” which had a strong opening in New York and Los Angeles on March 24 and is expanding this weekend to additional markets.
The latest film by the two-time Palme d’Or winners, “Tori & Lokita” tells the timely story of two immigrants struggling to survive on the margins of society. The humanist drama won the 75th Anniversary Prize at Cannes in 2022.
“’Tori Lokita’ is one of the most devastating cinematic experiences I’ve had in a long time,” said Martin Scorsese in a statement sent to Variety. “I’ve always admired the way that Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne make movies—their mastery is inseparable from their spiritual and ethical commitment to their characters, trying to make their way through an unforgiving world,” Scorsese continued. He went on to describe the film as “one of the Dardennes’ most harrowing films,” “also one of their greatest.”
The film stars Pablo Schils, Joely Mbundu, Alban Ukaj, Tijmen Govaerts, Charlotte De Bruyne, Nadège Ouedraogo and Marc Zinga. The Dardenne brothers produced with Delphine Tomson and Denis Freyd.
The thriller drama revolves around Tori (Pablo Schils) and Lokita (Joely Mbundu), who are immigrant kids from Benin and Cameroon, who are living alone in Belgium. Lokita pretends that she rescued Tori from an orphanage to obtain her working papers from the Belgian immigration officials but in vain.
Variety’s Owen Gleiberman described the film as a “suspenseful tale of loyalty and money” and a “parable of the age of economic injustice.”
