Limbo

A tragicomedy that glimpses into lives of asylum-seekers on a secluded Scottish island centering upon on a Syrian musician torn between fleeing his homeland and returning to die fighting as a martyr has its own identity crisis to be either Wes Anderson-esque deadpan or Paweł Aleksander Pawlikowski-esque solemn.

British film doing what British films do best. A deeply moving and at times tragic story but with a big dose of humour thrown in that makes you laugh out loud from the opening scenes.

The idea is great but like all films folk try in Scotland the accents are shite. If you set a film in Newcastle would you fill every role with Scousers? No you wouldnt. The film tries and succeeds in showing immigrant problems whilst weirdly propagating some strangely stereotypical Scottish thing. If only the folk behind this actually understood (and listened to at least the accents of) Islanders. Leaves it coming across as thirsty on many levels, all you needed was a Tranny and every box would be ticked!

pathetic no story bad script

An excellent sensitive and thought provoking film.

It's a movie you want to stop watching but can't. The complete loneliness is hard to wrap your head around that it makes you uncomfortable. It's a film to take a step back from the every day rat race, slow down and embrace a turmoil unaccustomed to. Beautifully filmed with dialogue that holds hope for people whose world is torn. Everything is out of their control.

'Limbo' tries to tell the overarching tale of the refugee experience with humor, but it just doesn't work. Set on a fictional Scottish island, Ben Sharrock's film lacks a sense of originality. It is just the age-ole tale of an outcast or in this case refugees. The film lacks a sense of time and that's probably by design. These castaways are wandering in a place where time doesn't matter and perhaps doesn't exist. The final act is touching, hopeful and happy and brings the film together very well. The problem is, at times, it was a slog to get there. Would have made a great short film, but at one hour and 44 minutes... Yikes! Final Score: 4/10

A quietly moving surprise. Beautiful photography, good, understated acting. An important and inside look at what goes on for some refugees after arrival in a host country where they experience the loss of native country, languages, goods, culture.

This film is quirky and thoughtful. I liked the way scenes are filmed with a panoramic view of the barren landscape, bringing home how isolating it must be for the few people who find themselves somewhat stranded on small Scottish islands. It shows the Scottish locals as not entirely keen on the refugees, for numerous reasons - I have no doubt racism still exists in Scotland. It made me think about how welcoming Scotland is thought of as being towards foreigners and how this perhaps isn't always the case in reality. The scenes featuring fellow refugees receiving training to do with fitting in with British culture, were eye opening in terms of how the teachers interact with the refugees and at times even slightly amusing, in terms of the dialogue and situations. Its poignant at times, with good cinematography, so I'd certainly recommend it, yes.

The movie is a drag that doesn’t say much new about the refugee experience for anyone with a reasonable amount of familiarity with current events. Much of the movie has a Napoleon Dynamite tone that doesn’t pay off. There are maybe a dozen funny moments, most of which are shown in the trailer and come in the first half hour. Predictable ending. Hard to love a movie that seems intent on making its audience feel in “limbo” …. With that said, not a terrible movie. Overall, I’d call it a missed opportunity. With some better character development and a more efficient plot, this could have been good.