“Andor”, “Chiaroscuro” and “Night Courier”: this week’s cultural outings

The return of a highly anticipated series, an internationally successful French video game, and a thriller that was a hit in Saudi Arabia: these are the three cultural recommendations of the week from “Courrier International.”
In the second season of Andor, released on Disney+ on April 22, rebelling against the Empire isn't a foregone conclusion—quite the opposite. Its characters face dilemmas that resonate with recent events in the United States and beyond, The New York Times analyzes in an article translated by us. “Like more than one Star Wars adventure before it, the series depicts the struggle against a fascist empire. But it's on the individual level, literally brick by brick, that it shows us what the act of resistance is, what it involves, and what it costs. It gives pride of place to individual heroism, but also to collective loss and sacrifice.”

Released on April 24th on consoles and PC, Clair obscur. Expedition 33 is a role-playing game with polished combat mechanics. And an atmosphere marked by French references. The first title from Montpellier studios Sandfall Interactive has excited the Anglo-Saxon press . We discover in particular “an alternative Paris that bears the scars of a fantastical catastrophe. The Eiffel Tower, completely twisted, has been moved and the Arc de Triomphe, broken in two,” details the Vulture website.

In French theaters since April 30, Night Courier features Fahad, a courier from Riyadh who dabbles in illegality to earn a living. Saudi filmmaker Ali Kalthami hit the mark in his country with this caustic thriller that reveals the hidden life of the Saudi capital on the big screen. In an article in the Omani monthly Muwatin-old-old, translated by Courrier International , journalist Ezza Abdel Hamid praises a film that reveals the reality of the city. Night Courier is “a courageous cinematic approach that bears witness to poverty in Riyadh, dreams that are shattered, and values that give way to necessity. It also questions the meaning of forming a society, when, behind the shiny surface of all the world's great cities, dark human realities form a universe apart.”

Courrier International