There’s a shot early on in “Red Path” that you’re unlikely to have ever seen before as director Lofti Achour places his camera at the base of a tree, aimed upwards as Achraf (Ali Hleli), a 13-year-old boy living near the Mghila Mountain of Tunisia, is busy above, hanging a duffel bag from a branch. There’s a genuine feeling of danger to it, even before the bloody contents of the bag begin to drip onto the camera lens, capping off a startling introduction for the drama that refuses to let go in the time that follows.
Loosely based on real events, “Red Path” concerns an ill-fated trip that Achraf takes with his slightly older cousin Nizar out to where there’s said to be a pool of water in the parched terrain, bringing along with them a gaggle of goats as they go further away from home than either has ever been before. Achour wastes no time showing the peril they’re in after a few serene minutes on the trail alone, viciously attacked by the Mujahideen that has has found a safe haven there in a completely different way than the boys have and only Achraf is allowed to escape, having to carry with him the head of his cousin as a warning for anyone in the village thinking about making a return.
You’d be forgiven for checking out after such a repulsive act occurs so early, but Achour and co-writers Doria Achour and Sylvain Cattenoy make it worth sticking around as when the situation puts Achraf in a uniquely terrible bind that nonetheless can’t be uncommon among those for whom terrorism lives right outside their door and generations who have grown up in fear are bound to shape the next. Achraf isn’t likely to turn to violence himself after the experience he has, but his perception is surely and irrevocably changed after first having to inform Nizar’s mother Mbarka and brother Mounir, as well as Rahma, a girl in the village he was likely to marry one day, about his cousin’s death and then watching the fallout while being too young to have much of a say. Not only does Hleli have a captivating presence, but the character is genuinely intriguing when knowing what he does becomes so isolating, unable to properly articulate what occurred to him due to trauma and youth when Mounir and others press for details in their attempt to retrieve the rest of Nizar’s body and yet frustrated when decisions start to be made on their assumptions.
There’s a bluntness practically throughout “Red Path” that may reveal the first-time feature director behind it, but Achour shows a remarkable aptitude for finding the nuance in a horrifying scenario and, with cinematographer Wojciech Staron, composes painterly scenes inside homes of the villages where the family is doing their best to stave off the darkness. The director also shows a light touch with actors and despite not being subtle about the brutality that sets the story into motion, there is admirable restraint shown throughout in the moments where most would shamelessly turn this into a tearjerker. Although there are mixed results when Nizar is brought back to life in memories and fantasies, coming to mind as Achraf can start collecting his thoughts and retracing his steps, the film gracefully presents what will remain with all of its characters for better or worse and for that reason, will be remembered by audiences as well.
“Red Path” does not yet have U.S. distribution.