
The Journey
2017

2016
Director
Marie-Castille Mention-Schaar
Runtime
105 minutes
Average Rating
No ratings yetSynopsis
Mélanie, 16 years old, lives with her mother. She likes going to school, her friends, playing the cello, and she wants to change the world. But when she meets a boy on the Internet and falls in love with him, her world changes as she is gradually recruited by Daesh. Sonia is 17 years old, and she almost did something irrevocable to “guarantee” her family a place in paradise. These teenage girls might be called Anaïs, Manon or Leila, and one day they all might go some way down the recruitment process. But can they ever come back from it?
Overall Score
Good
Category Breakdown
LGBTQ+ Representation
The film focuses on adolescent female identity and the radicalization process. While it explores the deconstruction of societal norms, there is no explicit evidence of queer identities or non-heteronormative relationships.
Gender Representation
The narrative centers on the agency and psychological trajectories of young women. It subverts the 'vulnerable girl' trope by presenting characters who make active, high-stakes political choices.
Racial & Ethnic Diversity
The story explores how race, religion, and ethnicity intersect with extremist recruitment. By suggesting various ethnic identities, the film avoids a monolithic portrayal of these characters.
Religious & Cultural Diversity
The film examines the breakdown of traditional social structures like family and school. It portrays characters' motivations through their own subjective perceptions of justice and paradise.
Disability Representation
There is no discernible evidence regarding the portrayal of physical or neurodivergent disabilities in the narrative.
Strengths
Areas for Improvement
AI Analysis
Marie-Castille Mention-Schaar delivers a complex study of identity and the disruption of conventional social trajectories. The film succeeds by refusing to provide easy moral answers, instead focusing on how systemic pressures and personal agency collide. The strength of the work lies in its nuanced depiction of female autonomy. By centering the radicalization of young women, the film moves away from domesticity toward a more volatile, politically engaged form of agency. However, the film lacks explicit representation of LGBTQ+ identities and provides no information regarding disability. While it explores the deconstruction of norms, these specific areas remain unaddressed in the narrative.

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