Roqia is a bleak, arresting piece of supernatural horror that effectively blurs the line between fact and fiction with dizzying effects.
Writer and Director: Yanis Koussim
Genre: Supernatural horror
Run Time: 89′
Venice World Premiere: August , 2025
Release Date: TBA
“Only the dead have seen the end of war” – George Santayana, 1922
There’s no better basis for a frightening horror film than one that explores the terrors of real life, and that’s exactly what Roqia accomplishes through its unsettling, naturalistic approach to an otherwise saturated genre of storytelling.
Instead of the large budget, special effects, and frequent jumpscares that viewers have come to expect from traditional horror movies, Roqia boasts a tight command of atmosphere and three-dimensional characters that bring its demons off the screen and into the real world.
Roqia takes place across two converging timelines. In the first, an aging Raqi (Mostefa Djadjam) – an Islamic term for exorcist – struggles to maintain his grasp of reality as Alzheimer’s disease gradually tears away at his mind. Several decades earlier, a man named Ahmed (Ali Namous) is left without his memories following a devastating car crash, and begins to experience strange phenomena that he can’t explain.
While Roqia sometimes struggles to bring these two storylines together in a way that feels seamless and natural, the film thoroughly succeeds in building a frightening, unsettling atmosphere that keeps the audience on the edge of their seats throughout. The way Koussim capitalizes on the film’s small budget by using real sets, natural lighting, and minimal camera tricks really lures the audience into a false sense of security, tricking them with a naturalistic glimpse of the real world – before throwing them into disarray with bloody violence, demonic possessions, and audial hallucinations.
It’s such an efficient way of blending the natural with the supernatural, and it creates an effect that’s rarely possible with big-budget blockbusters. Where the expensive cameras and special effects of Hollywood films can often hold the audience at a distance, reminding them they’re watching a movie at every turn, Roqia feels like a snapshot of everyday life – until it doesn’t. This dizzying and unsettling result is Roqia’s biggest strength, and it makes those frightening moments all the more effective.
Beyond the surface-level horror of Roqia, what really stands out with Koussim’s latest feature is the mature, insightful subtext that shines through his allegorical storytelling. This isn’t just a film about exorcists, demons, and evil spirits – it’s one about facing the horrors of history head-on and learning from them, not just shutting them out. Ahmed and the Raqi’s fading memories are clear allegories for this, and the curse that they’re haunted by isn’t just a supernatural one, but one of generational guilt and national trauma.
Roqia doesn’t go into too much detail about the Algerian Civil War that’s raging in the background of Ahmed’s timeline, but the impact of this conflict can be felt all throughout the bones of Koussim’s film. The collective suffering of this culture is the foundation of all the supernatural tropes the filmmaker employs. The curse that’s passed down through memory is (perhaps) an allegory for our flawed relationship with history, exploring how it can often be easier to forget the mass suffering of war – but always healthier to reckon with it, so as to prevent it happening again.
There’s so much thematic density to Roqia that it’s hard to fully comprehend upon first watch, but Koussim does an excellent job of ensuring that the surface-level story is just as compelling, so viewers don’t need to reckon with all the subtextual implications at first glance. It’s equally powerful to just sit back and get lost in a chilling, arresting piece of modern horror.
The biggest flaw with Roqia isn’t to be found in its technical craft, nor in its powerful social commentary, but rather in the way certain details of the story come together. The decision to essentially tell two interweaving storylines is definitely an interesting one, but it ultimately leaves all three lead characters feeling quite underdeveloped and underutilized. Koussim is clearly focused on making the overall narrative as dense and potent as possible, but this leaves the individual stories lacking as a result.
Ultimately, Roqia is a very engaging piece of supernatural horror that certainly has its storytelling flaws, but never fails to capture the audience’s attention and leave them with some dense ideas to chew over once the credits begin to roll. It’s an important story, if not always one that displays a perfect command of its characters.
Roqia: Movie Plot & Recap
Synopsis:
After a car crash leaves Ahmed unable to recall his own memories, the isolated husband begins hearing whispers in the night and seeing visions of a life he doesn’t remember. Decades later, an aging exorcist struggles with a rise in demonic activity in his hometown.
Pros:
- Strong, atmospheric storytelling that subverts expectations and uses horror tropes sparingly.
- Technical proficiency that keeps the audience on the edge of their seat with sharp camerawork and dark imagery.
- Powerful subtext about the necessity of reckoning with trauma instead of ignoring history.
Cons:
- Partially messy character work that leaves the audience impartial to certain emotional beats.
- An inability to justify the split-perspective story, making certain moments unnecessarily confusing.
Roqia had its World Premiere at the Venice Film Festival on September 1, 2025, as part of the Settimana internazionale della Critica, and will be screened again on September 2.
