Atlantics is an examination of class, the generation gap, and the influence of tradition and religion in modern-day Senegal. The major thing it examines is what compels someone to migrate from their home. It’s told through a Romeo and Juliet and Orpheus and Eurydice type love story.
Ada is going to marry a rich man, Omar. But she’s in love with a poor construction worker Suleiman. Suleiman and his fellow workers haven’t been paid in months. Instead of continuing to work for nothing they decide to take a boat to Spain. The boat capsizes and they all drown.
Ada has trouble going on with her life. At her wedding, a fire is started. She and Suleiman are suspects. Omar’s family, her family, and eventually Omar treat her terribly and humiliate her even though there’s no proof she had anything do with it. How women are still being treated as second-class citizens is shown quite effectively. To say what happens next would get into spoilers.
This is a well-made and well-shot film. There are some beautiful metaphoric shots of the ocean. There’s a great naturalism to the acting. But there’s a supernatural element of the story that doesn’t quite gel with the rest.