Director: Giacomo Abbruzzese
Two men fleeing very different wars end up bound together by chance in "Disco Boy," a 2023 drama that trades battlefield spectacle for something more interior.
What is Disco Boy about?
Alex has already survived one brutal crossing out of Belarus by the time he signs up for the French Foreign Legion, a decision built less on patriotism than on the promise of papers and a fresh identity somewhere in Europe. Jomo's fight is rooted in place: in the Niger Delta, he has thrown himself into a resistance movement defending his community and its land, knowing full well what that commitment could cost him. Neither man's path looks like it should intersect with the other's, yet the film pulls them together, and afterward Alex finds himself carrying pieces of Jomo he can't fully explain or shake off. Rather than following a straight line from cause to consequence, the story drifts between the two men's memories and physical states, letting the club scenes referenced in the title stand in for the disorientation of a mind trying to process violence it hasn't yet made sense of.
Cast & crew
Franz Rogowski anchors the film as Alex, bringing a physical, largely wordless intensity that has defined much of his recent work in European cinema. Morr Ndiaye plays Jomo with a quiet conviction that gives the Delta sections of the story their emotional weight, while Laëtitia Ky and a supporting cast spanning several countries reflect the film's genuinely international production.
Context & significance
Giacomo Abbruzzese, making his feature debut, shot "Disco Boy" across multiple countries and blends conventional narrative filmmaking with more abstract, dreamlike passages, an approach that earned the film a Silver Bear for cinematography at the Berlin International Film Festival. The result sits somewhere between a war drama and a study of dissociation, more interested in what violence does to memory and identity than in staging combat itself.
Where & how to watch
"Disco Boy" is available on K-Time with Persian dubbing and Persian subtitles, letting viewers follow either track depending on preference. No payment details or platform comparisons apply here; simply log into a K-Time account to stream, on an interface built with Farsi-speaking viewers in mind.