6.9
Aisha, a young Nigerian woman seeking asylum in Ireland, is floundering in a maze of social services and bureaucracy. As her situation becomes increasingly dire, Aisha struggles to maintain hope and dignity against the looming threat of deportation.
Letitia Wright
Aisha Osagie
Josh O’Connor
Conor Healy
Lorcan Cranitch
Peter Flood
Denis Conway
Brendan Close
Stuart Graham
Francis Manning
Ian Toner
Liam Cantwell
Ruth McCabe
Mrs. Keegan
Pius Ojo
Resident
Dawn Bradfield
Michelle Campbell
Theresa O'Connor
Deirdre O'Dea
Rosemary Aimiyekagbon
Moraya Osagie
Emmanuel Hassan
Abdul Momoh
Yemisi Ojo
Bes Emenaha
Antoinette Doyle
Habiba Momoh
Tara Flynn
Catherine Levy
Florence Adebambo
Ruykaya Momoh
Aisling Reid
Louise Sheeran
Lucky Aganmwonyi
Male Resident
Anaïs Rizzo
Young Woman
Caitríona Ní Mhurchú
Sandra Hill
Sharon Mannion
Christine Byrne
Sheik Bah
Teenage Resident
Orlaith Doherty
Garda Quinn
Paul McGlinchey
Garda McMahon
Andy Kellegher
Brian Belton
Emmanuel Okoye
Young Neighbour
Jerry Fitzgerald
Garda Larkin
Thabile Michelle Hlongwane
Idara
Abdul Alshareef
Hassan Hassar
Shashi Rami
Edouard Ashu
Derek Hannay
Glentill security guard
Emmet Byrne
Eoin Close
Aron Hegarty
Simon Farren
John Dalessandro
IPO Security Guard
Joanne Crawford
Ms Nolan
Tim Creed
Patrick Turner
Ger Duffy
Person from IPAS
Geraldine McAlinden
Mary Prender
Ignacy Rybarczyk
Pawel
Zeff Lawless
IPAT Security Guard
Corey Millar
Kevin Farrelly
Paul Murphy
TM Sean Collins
Bernadette Carty
Welcome Rest Receptionist
Director, Writer
Frank Berry
December 3, 2022
6
"Aisha" (Letitia Wright) has been seeking asylum in Ireland for some while when she encounters and builds a friendship with the security guard at her hostel. He, "Conor" (John O'Connor) has a bit of baggage of his own, and the two find a certain comfort in supporting each other as she is moved to a rural caravan park where she must continue her quest for residency. There's no doubt that both Wright and O'Connor deliver decent efforts here, but somehow the underlying story left me rather underwhelmed. Why Ireland? Is it just the most porous part of the EU? There is little context given as to that choice, and so when her struggles against the bureaucracy become more difficult, I felt that whilst I empathised with her predicament, I couldn't quite see why this was an Irish problem? The presentation of her as an asylum seeker is largely predicated on the skills of Wright as an engaging actor, rather than of any depth to her characterisation that could enable a neutral to make the judgements the film is clearly steering us to make. It all has a certain degree of entitlement to it, and the writer and director needed to work much harder to present the audience with a legitimacy to the story, not just to rely on an assumption that the innate kindness and sympathy we ought to feel would be forthcoming. This needed much more development and balance - those doing immigration management jobs portrayed here are usually shown as uncaring and unfeeling in an almost lazy fashion - and that compromises the whole integrity of the story. The complexities of this scenario are over-simplified here, and I think an opportunity to raise awareness of this - on both sides - has been largely missed.
Status:
Released
Original Language:
English
Budget:
$0.00
Revenue:
$0.00