Ghost Trail

Director Jonathan Millet masterfully balances the tension of a political thriller with a deeply personal story of loss and survival in this tale of a Syrian exile haunted by his past. A former literature professor once incarcerated in Damascus’s notorious Sednaya prison, Hamid works with a covert group hunting war criminals, while engaging in a relentless quest to find the guard who tortured him. As he follows a lead at a Strasbourg university, Hamid must maintain his cover while confronting the weight of his trauma. Meanwhile, weekly phone calls with his mother, now a refugee in Beirut, offer a fragile link to a life that no longer exists. César Award nominee Adam Bessa delivers a magnetic performance as the tormented Hamid; his scenes with Tawfeek Barhom, playing his suspected tormentor, crackle with suspense. Ghost Trail shifts subtly from a gripping tale of pursuit to a sobering meditation on exile, justice, and the cost of vengeance.