Achoura

Lore & Background

Achoura was filmed in Morocco, around Casablanca, in 2015. Producer Fabrice Lambot described the film as 'the first monster movie shot in Morocco.' The film premiered in December 2018 at the Paris International Fantastic Film Festival. It later screened at the Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival on 12 April 2019, had its North American premiere at the Cinepocalypse Film Festival in Chicago, Illinois, in June 2019, and screened at the Sitges Film Festival in Spain in October 2019.

Reader's Guide

Achoura met success at the Tangier National Film Festival where it won the award for best production, and at the Film Festival of Marrakech. It also won the grand prize at the Hard Line Festival in Germany in October 2018. In a mostly positive review for Bloody Disgusting, Patrick Bromley noted similarities between Achoura—shot in 2015—and the 2017 film It and its 2019 sequel, writing that Achoura 'offers a unique look into the fears and folklore of another culture' and is 'a serious, somber meditation on the death of innocence.' In 2021, Dark Star Pictures acquired distribution rights; the film is set to be released on DVD and digital platforms in the United States on December 14, 2021.

Did You Know?

• Achoura is regarded as the first Moroccan fantasy film.
• The film was shot in Morocco, around Casablanca, in 2015.
• Dark Star Pictures acquired distribution rights in 2021 for a US release on December 14, 2021.

The Story Behind the Screen

Achoura weaves a horror fantasy narrative centered on four childhood friends whose bond is shattered and then painfully rekindled. The inciting event arrives when one of the group—a friend who vanished a quarter-century earlier during the Ashura holiday—suddenly reappears in their lives. This return forces the reunited friends to confront a monstrous djinn, a supernatural entity that haunts their shared past. The film, a 2018 Moroccan-French co-production, uses this reunion-and-confrontation structure to explore themes of lost innocence and the long shadow of childhood trauma. The Ashura holiday provides a thematically resonant backdrop for the original disappearance, tying the personal loss of the characters to a broader cultural and spiritual framework. The djinn at the heart of the story serves as both a literal monster and a metaphor for the unresolved grief and fear the friends have carried since their youth. By anchoring its horror in a specific cultural context, the film distinguishes itself from Western monster movies while remaining accessible to international audiences. The narrative's focus on a group of friends reuniting after a long absence gives the story an emotional core that grounds the supernatural elements in deeply human experience.

A First for Moroccan Cinema

The production of Achoura marked a genuine milestone for the Moroccan film industry. Director and co-writer Talal Selhami helmed the project, which was shot in 2015 in and around Casablanca. Producer Fabrice Lambot went on record describing the picture as the first monster movie ever filmed in Morocco, a claim that underscores how rare such a genre entry was in the country's cinematic landscape. The film is widely regarded as the first Moroccan fantasy film, a distinction that places it in a category of its own within national cinema. The Moroccan-French co-production model brought together local talent with international production resources, allowing the project to realize its visual ambitions. The cast assembled for the roles includes Omar Lotfi, Younes Bouab, Sofia Manousha, Ivan Gonzalez, Mohamed Choubi, and Moussa Masskri, a mix of established and rising Moroccan and international performers. The decision to center a djinn as the antagonist and set the story around the Ashura holiday reflects a deliberate choice to draw on local mythological traditions rather than importing Western horror tropes. This cultural specificity became one of the film's most celebrated qualities in the years following its release.

A Festival Circuit Success

Achoura's journey through the international festival circuit was both extensive and rewarding. The film made its world premiere in December 2018 at the Paris International Fantastic Film Festival, setting the tone for a year of global screenings. It went on to compete at the Tangier National Film Festival, where it claimed the award for best production, and also screened at the Film Festival of Marrakech. On the European horror-festival front, the picture took home the grand prize at Germany's Hard Line Festival in October 2018. The following year expanded its reach further: the Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival hosted a screening on April 12, 2019, followed by the North American premiere at Cinepocalypse in Chicago in June 2019, and a showing at Spain's Sitges Film Festival in October 2019. This sustained festival presence across France, Belgium, the United States, Spain, and Morocco demonstrated the film's broad appeal across different horror and genre communities. The collection of awards and festival invitations helped establish Achoura as a notable entry in the global horror-fantasy landscape, particularly as a work that brought a distinctly Moroccan voice to the genre.

Critical Response and Afterlife

Critics responded to Achoura with a largely favorable reception, though the film's most prominent review came with a notable comparison. Patrick Bromley of Bloody Disgusting drew parallels between Achoura—shot in 2015—and the 2017 adaptation of It, as well as its 2019 sequel. While acknowledging the resemblance, Bromley emphasized that the comparison ultimately did the film a disservice, noting that Achoura offers a unique window into the fears and folklore of a different culture. He praised it as a serious, somber meditation on the death of innocence, describing it as bleaker than Stephen King's source material and full of powerful, evocative imagery that carries through to its final moments. The film's afterlife extended into home media as well. In 2021, Dark Star Pictures acquired the distribution rights for the United States, with a planned DVD and digital release scheduled for December 14, 2021. This wider availability ensured that audiences who missed the festival run could experience the film on their own terms, cementing its place as a reference point for Moroccan fantasy cinema and a standout entry in the international horror-fantasy genre.

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