Atlantics

In a suburb of Dakar, a futuristic tower rises over the neighbourhood while the construction workers go unpaid for months. Among them is Souleimane, the lover of Ada, a young woman whose family has promised her in marriage to a wealthier man. When Souleimane and his fellow workers set out across the ocean in search of a better future, Ada is left behind with a wedding she does not want. Soon after the men put to sea, a fire breaks out during her marriage celebration and strange fevers spread among the young women of the district, prompting Issa, a young policeman, to investigate.

The film is Mati Diop's first feature, released in 2019, followed by Naked Blue in 2022 and Dahomey in 2024. She wrote the screenplay with Olivier Demangel, and Eve Robin and Judith Lou Lévy produced. Mame Bineta Sane plays Ada, with Amadou Mbow as Issa, Ibrahima Traore as Souleimane, Nicole Sougou, Aminata Kane and Mariama Gassama among a credited cast of sixty-four. Made for about two million dollars, it blends drama, fantasy and romance.

On IMDb the film holds a critics' rating of 7.8 from 158 reviews, while on TMDB it stands at 6.7 from 291 votes, a gap suggesting stronger approval among reviewers than among the wider public.