Io capitano shapes the immigrant experience as a contemporary Odyssey: the story of two young men journeying from Senegal to Europe all while facing hardships, miracles, and impossible odds.

Seydou (Seydou Sarr, in a tremendous debut) and Moussa (Moustapha Fall), two teenage cousins, leave their small Senegalese town for Europe, where they aspire to find success and send money back to their families. Once they leave, they find the further they get away from home, the harder the journey becomes: from bribing border agents, procuring phony passports, through walking the Saharan desert, being separated by armed rebels, to Seydou surviving to a Libyan prison and slavery.

He miraculously reunites with Moussa in Tripoli, Libya’s capital city on the coast along the Mediterranean Sea, but Moussa’s leg is injured, requiring surgery they can only access in Europe. Their meager funds aren’t even enough for one passage across the sea, but Seydou is able to strike a deal, agreeing to pilot the boat so both cousins can make the journey together.

The voyage is not without incident, with Seydou as captain tending to sick passengers and breaking up fights, all while navigating a boat for the first time. His radio calls for help bring no aid, and he realizes he can’t rely on others, and only he can get the passengers through safely. After several restless days, on the horizon appears the silhouetted mountains of Sicily. The whole boat celebrates as an Italian coast helicopter approaches, with a deafening thrum and blades whipping around the spray of the ocean. Amid this sensory overload, Seydou proudly faces the helicopter head-on, declaring “Io capitano” (“Me captain”), as both a moment of pride in his triumph, and also defiance for whatever awaits. After an arduous journey of running, hiding, and escaping, he’s now standing tall, looking his future straight in the eyes.

Io capitano is a harrowing view into the migrant experience; typically, media and narrative attention goes to that final step, the boat ride across the Mediterranean and arrival in Europe, but here director Matteo Garrone gives visual form to the part of the journey that goes unseen. The film doesn’t flinch away from scenes of terrible violence and cruelty, like the brutality of a Libyan prison, which are countered by moments of poetic beauty, semblances of magic in an otherwise hopeless world. Each step of the journey is another barrier with extreme conditions to overcome, fueled by that dream of a better life.

Like the Odyssey, each stage of the journey is a fully fleshed-out chapter, given enough time to establish clear settings and stakes; we are in the desert, in the prison, in Tripoli, each just long enough to wonder if this is really “it,” where Seydou’s journey ends. Images of bodies lying half-buried in the sand, or scattered in a corner in the prison, are chilling reminders that for some, this is as far out as they got.

This experience is brought to compelling life by Seydou Sarr. His performance is one of limitless hope and determination to help others, restraining his internal fears by forcing a confidence and assertiveness even when he’s terrified inside. He is mostly restrained and soft-spoken, forced into making decisions and playing the role of leader even when his expression shows hesitation and uncertainty. His arc and growth into the film’s ending, having successfully captained the boat, brings immense impact, as he shouts with joy and triumph, reclaiming his power.

Io capitano has echoes of other works from director Matteo Garrone: the brutal crime-ridden underworld depicted in his Naples-set Gomorrah and the fantastical journey with emotional family ties of Pinocchio. With his latest film, drawing from a global crisis and bringing attention to the underseen narrative of the immigrant’s journey, Garrone creates a cinematic statement that is urgent and necessary.

Io capitano was screened at the 2024 Palm Springs International Film Festival and is being distributed by Cohen Media Group.