Saloum

Released Sep 2, 2022

1h 24m

Horror

Mystery & Thriller

Action

TRAILER

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List

96%

Tomatometer

56 Reviews

69%

Popcornmeter

50+ Ratings

Shot down after fleeing a coup and extracting a drug lord from Guinea-Bissau, the legendary mercenaries known as the Bangui Hyenas -- Chaka, Rafa and Midnight -- must stash their stolen gold bounty, lay low long enough to repair and refuel their plane and escape back to Dakar, Senegal. When they take refuge at a holiday camp in the coastal region of Sine-Saloum, they do their best to blend in with their fellow guests; including a mute named Awa, with secrets of her own, and a policeman who may be on their tail, but it's Chaka who happens to be hiding the darkest secret of them all. Unbeknownst to the other Hyenas, he's brought them there for a reason and once his past catches up to him, his decisions have devastating consequences, threatening to unleash hell on them all.

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Critics Consensus

Smart, dynamic, and fast-paced, Saloum mixes tones and genres into a tart, smoothly blended treat.

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Frank Scheck

Hollywood Reporter

Propulsively lurching with infectious glee from crime drama to modern-day Western to horror suffused with supernatural elements, this may turn out to be the rare African film that enters the international mainstream...

Dec 22, 2022

Full Review

Roxana Hadadi

New York Magazine/Vulture

It’s a pleasure to sprint alongside Saloum in an effort to keep up.

Sep 9, 2022

Full Review

Noel Murray

Los Angeles Times

Herbulot and Diop have made a movie that is bold and exciting, combining bits of reality with outsized myth, in a tale of crime, revenge, and literal monsters, set in a wonderland where it seems anything can happen.

Sep 9, 2022

Full Review

Sarah Vincent

Cambridge Day

The crime-thriller preamble, followed by the incurrence of the supernatural, makes for fast-paced, stylish action in the hands of Congolese filmmaker Jean Luc Herbulot, delivering in his sophomore effort.

Rated: 2.5/4

Aug 16, 2023

Full Review

Pramit Chatterjee

Digital Mafia Talkies

Watch Saloum just to witness Jean Luc Herbulot jump from dark comedy to thriller to western to the supernatural horror genre and then wrap it all up with a sense of existentialism like it’s nothing.

Rated: 5/5

Jul 20, 2023

Full Review

Andy Crump

The Playlist

Saloum is tense an when it kicks into high gear, scary as hell.

Rated: B+

Dec 22, 2022

Full Review

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Jonah K

a familiar message that is uniquely distinguished by it’s focus on symbolic horror and stylistic restraint. it’s definitely asking more from its viewers than it initially lets on, and i say that as a positive.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

07/31/24

Full Review

Alec B

A tight Carpenter-esque thriller. The movie commits to its bleak concept and feels more emotionally raw than a lot of recent American horror focused on the past.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/26/24

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Mark T

Great premise and original storyline. Unfortunately the film fails to deliver. What could have been a good Indie Horror, falls short.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

05/23/23

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avindu g

A journey of vengeance through scenic waterways and hollow deserts, praising the well-deserved beauty of African continent. Unique trio of characters forming up the Bangui Hyaenas. A crisp performance by the cast showcasing maturity. Story manages to excellently build up the suspense until it all blows over. Satisfactory use of special effects. It's the birdbox's concept but with a twist, For this reason it may lack originality but the same was taken care of the final freedom of youngsters. When all technicalities are set aside what's most thought provoking is the mental trauma of a survivor and how the unlucky gets swallowed so the dinner table showdown is a hard critique to all negligences of children's care taking.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

thom g

Saloum succeeds in mixing the genres of action, horror, adventure and thriller in an original plot, with distinct characters, and, above all, by surfing on cultural contexts under-represented on the screen. All this makes it worth watching.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Nazmi N

The suspense and tense building up in the beginning was so good. The raid, the flee, each everyone breathing on each others neck on the threats of betrayals comes to a more threatening tensions as the plane they fled with had to land to a place their leader familiar with, Saloum, Senegal where they met a long lost friend who retired military settled down in the remote village. The tension arise when the friend brought a resting police together. The fear of knowing anyone might know their crimes unfold one by one slowly. However, when the killing finally happened another nonsensical dark spirit haunt them instead.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

12/23/22

Full Review

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Jean Luc Herbulot

Director

Yann Gaël

Chaka

Evelyne Ily Juhen

Awa

Roger Sallah

Rafa

Ba Mentor

Actor

Bruno Henry

Actor

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Saloum: Trailer 1

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Synopsis

Shot down after fleeing a coup and extracting a drug lord from Guinea-Bissau, the legendary mercenaries known as the Bangui Hyenas -- Chaka, Rafa and Midnight -- must stash their stolen gold bounty, lay low long enough to repair and refuel their plane and escape back to Dakar, Senegal. When they take refuge at a holiday camp in the coastal region of Sine-Saloum, they do their best to blend in with their fellow guests; including a mute named Awa, with secrets of her own, and a policeman who may be on their tail, but it's Chaka who happens to be hiding the darkest secret of them all. Unbeknownst to the other Hyenas, he's brought them there for a reason and once his past catches up to him, his decisions have devastating consequences, threatening to unleash hell on them all.

Director: Jean Luc Herbulot
Producer: Paméla Diop
Screenwriter: Jean Luc Herbulot, Paméla Diop
Distributor: IFC Midnight
Production Co: Lacmé
Genre: Horror, Mystery & Thriller, Action
Original Language: Wolof
Release Date (Theaters): Sep 2, 2022, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Sep 8, 2022
Box Office (Gross USA): $3.9K
Runtime: 1h 24m

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