Saw this at the Noordelijk film festival 2023 in Leeuwarden (NL). I'm glad that movies about immigration become more and more different from what we got force-fed in 2017, when the so-called immigration crisis peaked, and when many filmmakers tried to piggyback on the issues showcased in the news. At the time, I swore to avoid all movies about this topic for good and for all. I broke my oath recently, when I saw one that I marked as different (Io Capitano/The Captain 2023, by Matteo Garrone). And again, I broke the same oath for the second time for the movie at hand. So, there is still hope for the future that immigration issues will get a better and nuanced coverage than in 2017.
This movie shows an attractive story, though "attractive" may not be the best choice of words in this context. Still, I don't know a better term. What happens will keep the attention of several viewer categories. Despite some statistical impossibilities that I can ignore given the quality of the rest of the story, it amplifies plenty of difficulties that immigrants must face. Every obstacle can be resolved with money, making this the favorite playing field of greedy people. Emotions are involved too, given family members winding up spread over different countries. A cute 12-year-old girl being our lead protagonist Amal will appeal most viewers equally. Even professional smuggler Sam, though seemingly cold and only focused on money, proves not completely devoid of emotions, and he does not drop Amal despite the stumbling block she obviously is.
All in all, an interesting take on immigration, very suitable for family viewing. What we see happening on screen, and what we pick up from various dialogs, illustrates small-scale hence different views on immigration, clearly deviating from the large-scale human masses we usually associate with these issues. In the news media we see an emphasis on a "tsunami" of people, threatening to overflow our civilization. It is refreshing to watch the other side. I scored a 4 out of 5 for the audience award when leaving the venue.
