NO WAY DOWN

Idriss is fresh out of prison and determined to leave his past behind, hoping to rebuild his life and reunite with his girlfriend, Mélia. When he visits a former associate to collect money he's owed, he's offered a deal instead: the debt will only be settled once Idriss evicts a squatter from the abandoned Kraken apartment complex. Refusing to be drawn back into violence, Idriss walks away.

But the conversation is overheard by Ouss, an aspiring gangster eager to prove himself. Seeing an opportunity, Ouss decides to enter the Kraken and do the job himself. His friend Marvin, a self-proclaimed content creator, tags along, unaware that they are stepping into the territory of a dangerous and deeply violent man.

When Mélia—Marvin's sister—learns where her brother is headed, she calls Idriss and begs him to help bring him back. As the group enters the vast, decaying complex in search of the boys, the tension steadily mounts. Climbing floor after floor, they come to realize they are being hunted by a man whose existence is intimately tied to Idriss's past.

NO WAY DOWN marks the feature debut of Théo Jourdain and Mohamed Chabane, delivering a raw and brutal thriller. Their boogeyman emerges from a very real social issue affecting major cities around the world: the shortage of affordable housing and the ruthless practices sometimes employed to clear unwanted tenants. Bolstered by a talented young cast, Jourdain and Chabane turn the sprawling, decrepit Kraken complex into a nightmarish labyrinth, expertly trapping their characters alongside a relentless psychopath and ensuring the audience feels every ounce of the film's suffocating claustrophobia. (ANNICK MAHNERT)