Flee - Movie Review

Critics Score - 8 of 10

General Audience Score - 7 of 10

We’ve all been in situations we wanted to escape from like destructive relationships, financial hardships, exploitive jobs and algebra tests. Now imagine that situation is the oppressive country you live in.

The new film Flee is coming to video on demand in most areas this month and it is the story of a refugee, a man that is forced to flee his home country of Afghanistan. While Flee is an international feature film, it’s in spoken Danish, viewers should prepare for some reading, but given you’re reading this, it seems like you’re up for the challenge. It’s understandable that being in a foreign language as well as being a documentary are two strikes against this film for many general audiences before it even gets into the cue. Despite some drawbacks, there’s no need to run away from Flee, it’s an excellent and important piece of cinema, the only fleeing likely to happen is when you run to grab your handkerchief or box of tissues.

SYNOPSIS - The most sobering cartoon you’ve likely seen in a while begins with a man named Amin speaking to an interviewer and agreeing to tell his story, but due to keeping identities secret, names and places have been changed. He describes his definition of home from the eyes of someone who’s been afraid of the regime they live under most of their life while we watch faceless black animated characters running away from something unknown. We then hear Amin as he begins telling us about his earliest memories as a boy running around Kabul, Afghanistan. It’s 1984, he’s jumping around in his sister’s dresses while listening to A-Ha’s Take On Me. We then learn about his family, his mother, older brother and two older sisters, but interwoven in the interview of his story is his current day situation where he’s looking to get married and buy a home with his future husband, Kasper. But once Amin’s older brother is about to get drafted into the Taliban to fight, the family must flee to survive , but the flight itself has it’s own perils and it’s unimaginable how anybody could escape the horrors they've yet to encounter.

Once this riveting but simultaneously harrowing documentary brings us to the conclusion of Amin’s journey, we’re left in stunned silence at the remarkable storytelling present in the movie. While the story is the centerpiece on which the film hangs it’s hat, the actual animation is entertaining enough but overall is pretty unremarkable. Chock full of dark hues, at least fifty shades of gray, dark blue and the like, the color palette of something more vibrant, like say Disney’s Encanto, is more likely to attract the attention of awards season voters. But make no mistake, whatever wins all this season’s awards, Flee is not only the best animated film of the year, not in terms of visuals, but in terms of significance. This is a movie that is important for humanity. Much like Quo Vadis, Aida? from last year, Flee is a movie that can help us move away from mistakes in our past and into a future that holds more love, compassion and understanding for the fellow humans we inhabit this piece of rock with.

 SUMMARY - Flee is a fascinating glimpse into life outside the one that most anyone reading this will ever know. It shows the desperation of oppressed people in lands we’ve never been to and the perils they endure to escape such terrible circumstances. When you sit down and put this film on, you won’t have the slightest urge to Flee until the credits roll.