Written and directed by Erige Sehiri, co-written by Anna Ciennik and Malika Cécile Louati, Marie, Naney, and Jolie live together in Tunis, sheltering Kenza, a shipwreck survivor. As this unorthodox family forms, crises make each woman reconsider her place. Starring: Aïssa Maïga, Laëtitia Ky, Déborah Naney, Mohamed Grayaâ, Foued Zaazaa, Estelle Dogbo, Touré Blamassi and Sophie Tankou.
One of the strongest, smartest and most impactful choices that Erige Sehiri makes with Promised Sky is to not over-dramatize or overtly politicize it. It’s filled with such powerful, poignant themes, which are inherently political, but they’re delivered with subtlety and grace. Sehiri, Anna Ciennik and Malika Cécile Louati approach the stories of these women from their perspectives not an observer’s, to let the wider issue be explored by seeing how it directly impacts their everyday lives. Whether that be misogyny and stereotypical prejudices against women and immigrants, or simply how to do the right thing in an excessively complicated world. While it may not be appreciated by everyone, it’s such a wonderful choice to let you truly appreciate the strength and struggle of these women.
Women who are given such individual, intelligent personalities by the leading actresses. Aïssa Maïga, Laëtitia Ky and Déborah Naney, all give terrific performances. Each of them in their own way portray the deep, shattering emotions that they’re all dealing with. Similar to how Sehiri presents the story, they present their characters’ trauma with a gentle hand, they gradually peel back the layers to reveal the true depth of their pain. Déborah Naney adds this great feel of the daily hustle to Promised Sky, getting creative in her methods of survival, with grit yet brokenness. Laëtitia Ky has such a strong youth and a touch of naivety, while putting up a big wall to try and protect herself. While Aïssa Maïga gives us a matriarch figure, stoic and dependable, trying to do what’s best for everyone. They’re an excellent trio.
Visually, Sehiri matches that well, it’s humble but also brings a huge amount of colour into the mix to nicely reflect the big personalities and hearts on display in Promised Sky. It has a lot of energy while still holding onto that earnest, everyday nature. Sehiri makes a lot of great choices to match the characters and tone of the story, particularly bringing through its emotional roots in a way that’s extremely natural. It would be very easy for a filmmaker to get caught up in sentimentality with a story like this and completely undermine its value, so it’s lovely to see Sehiri keep things organic and gradual. You can feel the honesty and fragility to it.
Promised Sky is quietly heart-breaking and a wonderful exploration of the strength and resilience of women when it feels like the world is against them. It’s led by three superb performances from Aïssa Maïga, Laëtitia Ky and Déborah Naney, they’re charming and each give moving portrayals. The struggle and pain of these women is elegantly understated, gradually building all throughout the film to land with a highly resonating note in its ending.
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