Because You’re Already Dead

Atlantics (2019) Dir. Mati Diop

In Senegal, a group of construction workers - who have been unpaid for months - attempt to seek a better life in Spain via the Atlantic Ocean. We follow Ada, who was dating one of the workers, as she and a number of other women left behind, try to deal with the aftermath of their desperate decision.

“I kept on thinking about the desire, but mostly the need, to write a feature about the situation of migration but from another point of view. The first major choice was to talk about the disappeared youth in the ocean from the point of view of the living, of the one who stays, in order to talk about the experience of losing these people, of how does it transform the everyday life and imagination of the people who stay.” - Mati Diop

When director Mati Diop was speaking to a young man named Seringe for her short documentary film Atlantiques (2009), he told her:

“When you decide to leave, it’s because you’re already dead.”

There is no shortage of real, horrific things happening in the world. As someone who believes in the power of horror as a genre to explore, discuss and highlight these issues, it can be disappointing how rarely it is used to highlight global concerns.

“You have a responsibility to really help the [horror] genre grow, 'cause there's no limit to how profound it can become. If you go back to those guys like [Federico] Fellini and [Luis] Buñuel, talking about really profound things. Now, I don't know whether you can get a big audience with films that abstruse, but you can in horror if you scare the shit out of them about every eight minutes.” - Wes Craven

Perhaps it may seem reductive or insensitive to tell stories about the refugee crisis with elements of the supernatural. But on the contrary, I think someone can only think that if they already think of genre as low or unserious art. Horror is there for us when there are topics that are taboo in polite society. If the media fails to talk about human lives as anything but statistics or political footballs, let horror pick up the slack.

“I'm very, very shocked and terrified by the fact that this very tragic situation that some people went through was so disrespected and disconsidered by the main mass media. How the migrants have been filmed on the boats and how those images were consumed. How the essence of the situation has been miscommunicated. This existential, political and economical situation has been so mistreated. I have no words to tell you how angry I am at the disrespect.” - Mati Diop

As with Tigers Are Not Afraid, Atlantics is something of a genre Trojan Horse. We have a supernatural ghost story, with a romance at the centre of it. But this is a film about poverty, exploitation, and the human beings that, in desperation, seek refuge on our shores. I am here for it. And I want more of it.

“This is what cinema can bring. To create a closer relationship between people on subjects that they think have nothing to do with them. But it is the opposite. We should find a way to feel concerned at a human level, at an essential level and to be united in terms of how powerful the tool is. You know for example, the way Greek tragedy had a huge importance in society at that time. I think that cinema should have this, we should trust in cinema as much as the Greeks trusted theatre.” - Mati Diop

Water has always been an important part of horror. Most folklore around the world involves some form of water imp or spirit. You’ll see its symbolic presence in a lot of Japanese horror especially. But you’ll notice it in most ghost stories. It can be symbolic of rebirth, but also of the unknown, of darkness, mystery and the thin barrier between worlds. Water is eternal, natural, uncaring. A powerful elemental force that can fill and consume. Destruction and creation. In Atlantics, it’s all of these things at once. The film understands the importance of water in the supernatural and the long lingering shots of the sea encourage the viewer to do the same.

“I saw you in the enormous wave that consumed us. All I saw were your eyes and your tears. I felt your weeping dragging me to shore.” - Souleiman

Where can I watch it in the UK?

You can stream it for free on Netflix.

Pairs well with

A good double bill would be with La Llorona (2019, dir. Jayro Bustamante, available to stream for free on Shudder).

Another film that deploys ghosts and the supernatural to expose horrific real world events (the genocidal war crimes in Guatemala in 1982-3), while also allowing the ghost to commit acts of vengeful, cathartic justice. A brilliant film.

A warning: There was another La Llorona film that came out in 2019, produced by James Wan. I think it’s more commonly called The Curse of La Llorona.

There have been several adaptations and versions of La Llorona. “The Crying Woman” (often found near bodies of water) is an indigenous folk story that’s often used to scrutinise the crimes of the coloniser. So naturally Wan’s film is about a malevolent spirit trying to steal children. AVOID.

Further Reading

• A ScreenTalks conversation with Mati Diop.
• A longer interview with Diop at the New York Film Festival.
• An interesting piece about abjection in Atlantics.

Other Recommendations

• If you’re following Laura Hall’s 31 Days of Halloween (a previous recommendation here), you’ll already know about this, but in case you’re not subscribed, this is too good for anyone to potentially miss: The Annual Ghost Town Pumpkin Festival! A great indie game. It’s pay-what-you-want/can and is by Adam Gyru who made A Short Hike (also highly recommended). Carve your own pumpkin and then share it with the world. You can wander around a spooky Ghost Town and look at everyone’s pumpkins and it’s genuinely delightful. Really put me in the spirit of the season. Here’s my pumpkin!