Saint Omer (Criterion) 04/24 Blu-ray (Rental)

Bringing a documentarian’s sense of open-ended inquiry to her first narrative feature, writer-director Alice Diop constructs a morally and emotionally layered courtroom drama unlike any other. When she travels to Saint-Omer, France, to attend the trial of a young Senegalese woman (Guslagie Malanda) accused of murdering her infant daughter, novelist Rama (Kayije Kagame) finds herself shaken to the core by a case that proves to have profound resonances with her own life. Interweaving complex themes of mother-daughter bonds, immigrant alienation, and postcolonial trauma into a piercing portrait of two mysteriously connected women, Diop forgoes mere questions of guilt and innocence in order to plumb the unsettling unknowability of the human soul. DIRECTOR-APPROVED BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES New 2K digital master, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack New and archival interviews with director Alice Diop Conversation between Diop and author Hélène Frappat Conversation between Diop and filmmaker Dee Rees from a 2023 episode of The Director’s Cut – A DGA Podcast Trailer New English subtitle translation PLUS: An essay by critic Jennifer Padjemi