Review | Tori and Lokita movie review: Dardenne brothers return to form with punchy drama about migrant workers and their exploitation

The title characters are children from West Africa who work for a drug dealer while trying to dodge their traffickers and con Belgian officials

The plot is clunky at times but the co-directors draw superb performances from their non-actor stars as they serve up a well observed slice of social realism

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Joely Mbundu (right) in a still from Tori and Lokita (category IIA, French), directed by Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne.

Published: 7:15pm, 30 Nov 2022

4/5 stars

Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne return with another painfully well observed slice of social realism. Recently, films from the Belgian-born brothers, such as Young Ahmed (2019) and The Unknown Girl (2016), have not quite hit the highs of their earlier work, but this latest effort feels punchy and relevant.

Again, like their 1996 film The Promise, the subject is immigration. While that earlier movie dealt with the exploitation of migrant workers, this focuses on the way the most vulnerable are left exposed.

Hailing from West Africa, the title characters Tori (Pablo Schils) and Lokita (Joely Mbundu) are still of school age. He’s 11 and she’s 16, and both have experienced life in a way that no child should.

From Benin and Cameroon, they’re friends, but out to convince the Belgian authorities that they are brother and sister to aid their immigration case. Away from the eyes of the law, they work for an Albanian drug dealer (Alban Ukaj) who uses his pizza business as cover. Tori, with his soulful eyes, makes for a most innocent-looking mule.

The Dardennes lay bare the brutal economic realities of their characters’ situation. Both are pursued by the traffickers who brought them to Europe, while Lokita, who suffers from panic attacks, is also expected to send money home to her family.