A somewhat intriguing look at immigration and the border officials who handle it. The story works quite well with its limited use of location, with much of the narrative shifting between the interview between Wendy and Haile, and Haile's journey to get to the UK. It does a decent job of showing both the perspectives of border officials and refugees.
Lena Headey's acting is fine, but Ivanno Jeremiah is fantastic, having to showcase a lot of emotion, and dig deep within his character's psyche. Through his journey from Eritrea to the UK you can understand the tough choices he has to make, such as when he attacks a police officer to allow others to escape. The film doesn't justify his actions, making him a more interesting character by not taking the moral option at every turn.
For negatives, there is a lack of narrative momentum during the second act, and some emotional beats for Haile feel a bit over-cooked. Wendy's sub-plot involving her divorce could have tied back to the overall story a little more as well.
Do find it interesting there are quite a few reviews calling the film propaganda. Tackling immigration is a political issue, but I don't think emphasising with the experience of people trying to come to the country should be considered such a problem. That factor seems to have overtaken the usual values of judging a film for some people, purely giving it a 1/10 because of supposed differences of political opinion.
Lena Headey's acting is fine, but Ivanno Jeremiah is fantastic, having to showcase a lot of emotion, and dig deep within his character's psyche. Through his journey from Eritrea to the UK you can understand the tough choices he has to make, such as when he attacks a police officer to allow others to escape. The film doesn't justify his actions, making him a more interesting character by not taking the moral option at every turn.
For negatives, there is a lack of narrative momentum during the second act, and some emotional beats for Haile feel a bit over-cooked. Wendy's sub-plot involving her divorce could have tied back to the overall story a little more as well.
Do find it interesting there are quite a few reviews calling the film propaganda. Tackling immigration is a political issue, but I don't think emphasising with the experience of people trying to come to the country should be considered such a problem. That factor seems to have overtaken the usual values of judging a film for some people, purely giving it a 1/10 because of supposed differences of political opinion.