Being a delivery app rider in Paris is no easy task. The streets are often slicked with rain and the traffic is unpredictable. Then there are the restaurateurs and customers.
Yet these don’t even rank in the top 10 problems of the (fictional) central character in Souleymane’s Story (select cinemas and streaming). A migrant from Guinea, good-natured Souleymane cannot work legally while he awaits his asylum interview, so he rents a delivery account from Cameroonian Emmanuel.
It’s a tough living. The app has a feature to prevent rental – but this merely inconveniences Souleymane, who must periodically find Emmanuel to verify the account with a selfie. And when he’s inevitably hit by a car and a customer rejects the crumpled bag he presents, the ironically named Courier Assistance hotline only makes life more complicated.
Souleymane is far from the only rider working illegally – as revealed when he makes a delivery to some police officers, who plainly understand what’s going on and even laugh at the extortionate fee Emmanuel charges him.
It’s almost a relief when the app account is suddenly deactivated (no explanation from Courier Assistance is forthcoming) – but things get worse for Souleymane, before the superb concluding scene – that asylum interview – uncovers his real story.
In 2019, Ken Loach’s film Sorry We Missed You, about a gig economy delivery van driver, had MPs up in arms – though arguably that situation has worsened since. Brilliantly acted, unpredictable and gripping, Souleymane’s Story ought to resonate in the same way – and not just in France.
No comments yet