Sergi López on ‘Sirāt’: A journey that makes you look inward

MEXICO CITY (AP) — “Sirāt,” Spain’s latest Oscar contender, follows Luis as he treks through the North African desert with his 12-year-old son and his dog to find his missing daughter.

Blending the grit of “Mad Max” with the underground rave culture of the 1990s, the film is set against the backdrop of a hypothetical World War III. It follows nomadic youths with hippie-punk aesthetics who carry their passion for electronic music into North Africa — a journey that becomes existential amid the desert dust.