REVIEW: Io capitano [2023]

Rating: NR | Runtime: 121 minutes
Release Date: September 7th, 2023 (Italy) / February 23rd, 2024 (USA)
Studio: 01 Distribution / Cohen Media Group
Director(s): Matteo Garrone
Writer(s): Matteo Garrone, Massimo Ceccherini, Massimo Gaudioso & Andrea Tagliaferri

Tell her that I miss her.

Teenage cousins Seydou (Seydou Sarr) and Moussa (Moustapha Fall) have a dream to leave poverty in Senegal behind and become famous musicians in Europe. They’ve worked in secret to raise the money, telling their mothers they’re out playing soccer because they know they’d never approve of the dangerous journey over desert and sea. This fantasy success with the potential to change their family’s circumstances forever guides them forward while their naïveté holds them back whenever someone looking to exploit them offers an impossible “deal” as help.

The latest from acclaimed director Matteo Garrone, Io capitano quickly crushes these idealistic boys’ hearts once their trek across Africa begins. Everything that could go wrong on this endeavor does as bodies are left behind in the sand, Libyan mafiosos inflict torture, and survival demands slave labor. First the coyotes they paid refuse to fulfill their promises. Then prison opens their eyes to the malicious greed of remorseless men. A few glimmers of hope break through (see Issaka Sawadogo’s kindly Martin), but this gauntlet is mostly a trial by fire testing Seydou’s resolve.

Will he keep going? Will he succumb to fear? Will he rise above the countless opportunists and criminals met along the way to take responsibility for the lives of those around him and be the one who promises them safety? You could call the film a coming-of-age story as a result—a boy finding the strength and courage to embrace manhood as a position of compassion and protection rather than power and control. Don’t therefore expect many “fairy tale” flights of fancy (or assume that the brief moments that do appear are born from accomplishment rather than futility) despite the poster. This is a familiar film built upon true tales of survivors that borders on miserablism.

I’m honestly surprised it broke through for an Oscar nomination. I shouldn’t considering miserablism generally earns The Academy’s attention, but I did expect more from it. That’s not to say it isn’t very well-made or acted. It’s simply a lot more by-the-numbers and episodic in nature than I would have thought considering how many truly unique breaths of fresh air were submitted. It hits the right emotional notes, though. And it’s impossible not to root for Sarr. For anyone who’s followed the news or watched documentaries on the subject, however, it proves a solid dramatic take on what you already know. No more, no less.