Overview

• Adapted from Bernard-Marie Koltès’ Black Battles With Dogs, the film centers on tensions at a West African construction site after a worker’s death.
• Isaach De Bankolé’s performance as Alboury earns strong notices, with Matt Dillon, Tom Blyth and Mia McKenna-Bruce rounding out the principal cast.
• Critics repeatedly cite Éric Gautier’s cinematography and the confined setting for crafting an oppressive, purgatorial atmosphere.
• Early reviews commend the film’s thematic engagement with colonial exploitation while questioning staging, dialogue choices and narrative payoff; IndieWire graded it B-.
• Denis incorporates expressionistic touches, including a photorealistic CGI nightmare and pointed soundtrack cues, which some reviewers found heavy-handed.