Review: Strawberries
- CANNES 2026: The charismatic Nisrin Erradi takes a behind-the-scenes look at agricultural work in Spain in a incisive, feminist film directed by the Moroccan filmmaker Laïla Marrakchi
"Can I stand up for myself? Am I invisible?" It is a subject that many are reluctant to discuss, each believing it is none of their business, that of modern-day slavery in Europe involving labour from the southern Mediterranean, exacerbated by patriarchal societies that trample on women’s rights – a subject Laïla Marrakchi tackles with great vigour in Strawberries, presented in the Un Certain Regard section of the 79th Cannes Film Festival (where the filmmaker first made her mark in 2005 with Marock). The filmmaker does not treat this topic as a thesis at all, opting instead for a highly intense portrayal and sustained action (at times bordering on the thriller), yet one in which she nevertheless lays bare all the ins and outs perfectly, thanks to a thoroughly researched foundation and a striking fictional realism.
"It’s a dream, an opportunity to build my future in Morocco." Following a job interview (which required a passport, medical tests, a criminal record check and her husband’s consent) in her home country, Hasna (Nisrin Erradi), in her thirties, is hired as a farm worker near Huelva, in Spain. A ferry ride later, she arrives at the Fresa del Carmen estate, where she shares a barracks with Meriem (Hajar Graigaa), a newcomer like herself, and two veterans: Zineb (Hind Braik), who arrived two years earlier, and Khadija (Fatima Attif), who has been working there for five years. But the former taekwondo champion is soon disillusioned. Not only is picking strawberries in the sweltering heat of the plastic greenhouses that blanket the landscape no easy task, but above all, the promises of wages are not kept, to say nothing of the petty daily extortions, the total disregard for labour laws, and the sexual pressure exerted, caught between the temptation of money and the fear of losing her job. What can be done? Put up with it and keep quiet? Rebel?
Moving along very effectively through a screenplay co-written by the Moroccan director and Delphine Agut, the plot strikes an excellent balance between restrained, even hidden, emotions, the harshness of the situation on the ground with its oppressive echoes of the homeland, and the bond of solidarity between the women in exile (each with her own personality and expectations) and the connections forming between the four protagonists (to whom a Spanish lawyer, played by Itsaso Arana, will later be added), all captured with intensity by cinematographer Tristan Galand. By laying bare this bitter reality under the Spanish sun — the injustice, the exploitation in the name of economic profit (with its petty, abusive overseers and the tacit complicity of the authorities), the stifling of free expression and the stigmatisation used to perpetuate this system of enslavement — the filmmaker calls for resistance and creates a work that is both humanist and feminist.
Strawberries was produced by French companies Lumen and Atelier de Production, and co-produced by Fasten Films (Spain), Mont Fleuri Production (Morocco) and Mirage Films (Belgium). Lucky Number handles international sales.
(Translated from French)
Photogallery 18/05/2026: Cannes 2026 - Strawberries
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