After landing on our radar with his impressive debut Violet, which won Best Feature Film at Berlinale, Belgian director Bas Devos returned to the festival circuit last year with not one, but two new features, Hellhole and Ghost Tropic. The latter, which follows a nocturnal journey of a Maghrebi cleaning woman living in Brussels, is now set to arrive in Virtual Cinemas at the end of the month courtesy of Cinema Guild. We’re pleased to exclusively debut the U.S. trailer, which introduces the 16mm-shot drama with snapshots of a few striking sequences from the film.
Rory O’Connor said in his review from Marrakech last year, “The quiet power of Saadia Bentaïeb’s performance is the key to Devos’ third feature. The actress is perhaps better known in theatre circles, although keen-eyed viewers might recognize her from bit parts in BPM, Based on a True Story, and Bertrand Bornello’s latest film Zombi Child. This is her first lead role and Ghost Tropic, for most intents and purposes, is hers alone.”
See the exclusive trailer below.
Khadija (Saadia Bentaïeb) is a fifty-eight-year-old Maghrebi cleaning woman living in Brussels in the wake of the 2016 bombings that shook the city. After work one night, she falls asleep on the last subway train, wakes up at the end of the line and has no choice but to make her way home—all the way across the city—on foot. Along the way, she has a series of encounters: with a security guard, a convenience store clerk, a group of teenagers. She asks for help and she gives it and slowly, steadily makes her way.
Ghost Tropic opens in Virtual Cinemas beginning August 28. See a list of theaters here.