Irati

Irati (2023) is a Basque dark-fantasy adventure you can watch online on iFILM. The Western Pyrenees, year 778. When Charlemagne's army threatens his valley, a young Basque heir descends into caves where the old gods still breathe to win back what was taken.

Director Paul Urkijo Alijo shot almost the entire film in Euskara, the ancient Basque tongue, so the myth speaks in its own voice rather than dubbed Spanish. Up in the mountains rules Mari, mistress of stone and storm, played by Itziar Ituño of Money Heist. Beside her walks Irati, raised among spirits and stripped of fear, while Eneko Sagardoy carries a man gambling his ancestors' faith on the living.

Practical costumes, real makeup and rugged location work stand in for slick CGI, which leaves the forest damp and genuinely old. If the parade of identical dragon blockbusters has worn you down, this Pyrenean folktale plays by stranger rules. Stream Irati (2023) online on iFILM.