Luxembourgish director Lukas Grevis’s feature debut, The Land in the Shadows, imagines a chillingly realistic scenario where xenophobia leads to radicalisation and disruption. In it, Jos (Max Thommes) and Sara (Marie Jung) are a relatively new couple, but they plan a long future together, in life, love and social projects. Both feel strongly about equal opportunities; they want to create a cultural centre for refugees. Just like Jos’s mother, Sara is not native to the village. They both moved for their husbands, and one senses there must be more to that story than the film lets on. Soon, the pretty picture of perfection, of a caring community in a small, rural area, gives way to a reality where everyone is always sticking their nose in everyone else’s business. The Land in the Shadows screened as part of the Luxembourg City Film Festival’s Made In/With Luxembourg section.

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There are tender moments shared between the two protagonists, with the obvious markers of a relatively new romance: stolen kisses, soothing care, and support. At night, Sara wakes up to say, “Can you think more quietly?” – a sign of her intuitively grasping his tenseness through the realm of sleep. What follows is a sparse conversation and a certain amount of consolation, a shared nighttime moment as the feeling dawns that things are falling apart. But that downward spiral takes its time to accelerate. Brewing tensions seem to haunt the male protagonist more than the rest of the village, and unfortunately, his fear is justified all too soon, when the village mascot – the one wild dog – is found dead.

The Land in the Shadows carries in itself an old tale that feels very new. Xenophobia, the “old” versus the “new”, change and those resisting it; in other words, a duality that harbours within itself an urge to perpetrate violence. Thankfully, the film acts as a (non-dogmatic) warning against violent discrimination, by identifying with the couple as protagonists and with their urge to create something meaningful in a world that’s shrinking. Rather ironically, the movie both opens and closes with a rendition of “Ons Heemecht” (lit. “Our Homeland”), the national anthem of Luxembourg.

Exacerbating the situation, the younger sister of Jos, Zoé (Jil Devresse), comes to visit from Koblentz, where she now lives, only to experience the same degree of exclusion and stigma as any other outsider. Showing that nobody is safe – native or not – from such unfounded discrimination is perhaps what the film handles best. Devresse’s subdued performance makes her Zoé instantly likeable, to the dismay of everyone else her age, who chose to stay in the village. Even though she and her brother find themselves on the receiving ends of two different crusades for justice, they are both ostracised, it seems, and there’s no coming back.

The Land in the Shadows is smartly composed and well acted, and despite it being a bit raw, it marks an assured step for Grevis towards his next film project, especially when it comes to portraying societal tensions and ethical stakes.

The Land in the Shadows is a Luxembourgish production by Respect.lu.