Movie Review: 'Tori And Lokita' Explores Heartbreaking Drama
LOS ANGELES, March 20 (UPI) -- "Thorin and Lokita " hits theaters Friday, a dark but effective drama. To say there won't be a happy ending is hardly a spoiler, but open your eyes to see how awful it is.
Lokita (Joli Mbundu) applies for legal documents in Belgium, where her brother Tori (Pablo Schill) legally lives in an orphanage. Unfortunately, there are too many government forces to threaten these brothers.
Lokita earns money by working at Betim's (Alban Ucaj) Italian restaurant, including selling him marijuana after hours. The police randomly stop Tori and Lokita on the street, and the smugglers they catch ask them for more money.
When Lokita's paperwork is denied by the state, she agrees to work on a marijuana farm in Betim for three months and live in a cabin on the property with no contact with Tori. Betim Lokita will receive fake documents, but they will in fact represent him as an indentured servant.
Tori finds a way to sneak into the marijuana farm to see Lokita, but it's no place for children. It's also not a mature place because the focus is on the dire choices that immigrants face in many countries.
Writer-directors Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne capture the turbulent environment in which Tori and Lokita live.
No matter how much money they pay, Tori and Lokita will always owe someone, not just Betim and the smugglers. Lokita sends money to his family in Garoa, but his mother also acts as if Lokita is holding her back. It's never enough.
Everyone from Betim to the smugglers act like Tori and Lokita's basic needs are so hard on them. To put food and food in a box, for example, such a throw of Betim's day.
The continuum of inhumane treatment is harsh. It will also be worn by strong people.
Even when Lokita agrees to stay on the farm for three months, it is not enough in Betim. He also wants to use her sexually.
He offers her more money, but it doesn't matter. He needs papers, not money, and this is just an excuse to justify the humiliation.
There is a fire hazard on the farm. Betim's people assure him that he will only light one room, and probably not his, until the power goes out, as if to calm him down.
Poor sweet Tori wants to keep her sister's spirit, but that only makes the viewer worry about the danger she's putting herself in. The Dardens have already installed several threats that Tori knows about, and of course there are many others that the boys aren't even aware of.
Although history testifies to a universal phenomenon. Each world trying to bring Tori and Lokita back uses its own rules to control people.
But people have free will and innate autonomy that breaks rules and potentially makes the situation more dangerous for everyone. The state plans to enforce the law, but only allows criminals to take advantage of desperate migrants.
The criminals think they can control their charges in their own homes, but they still cannot take into account a child who desperately wants to see his sister. Perhaps the least effective are the orphanages, which believe their curfews and rules will keep children in check.
As dark as Tori and Lokita's story is, there are glimmers of hope in it. A stranger helps Tori send money home, and two men at her orphanage treat her well.
But most of the people depicted in Tori and Lokit , with the exception of the main characters, range from selfish to downright mischievous ambiverts.
Darden sympathizes with Tori and Lokita, but does not accept the hits because they are acting their test. We hope that the film empathizes with people in their real life situation.
Fred Topel, who attended Ithaca College Film School, is a Los Angeles-based entertainment writer for UPI. He has been a professional film critic since 1999, a Rotten Tomatoes critic since 2001, and a member of the Television Critics Association since 2012. Learn more about his work in entertainment.
