class=”alignleft size-full wp-image-53740″ title=”illegal review” src=”https://www.heyuguys.com/images/2010/11/illegal-review.jpg” alt=”” width=”220″ height=”150″ />Premiering in the UK at this year’s BFI London Film Festival, Olivier Masset-Depasse’s second feature film tackles the issues and hardships of detention centres and immigration. The film is struggling to get distribution in this country, but it definitely deserves to be seen as it is very well made with a subject matter that tackles an important issue in numerous countries in the world.
Set in Belgium, the story follows a mother who is taken away from her teenage son into an immigration detention centre where she tries to maintain a relationship with him as she thinks of a way to get out of her terrible situation.
During her time at the centre she meets numerous characters who support her throughout her stay, including a kind guard, a mother and daughter who live in her room and a rebellious young woman who always returns to the centre with bruises and scars.
While the story and the setting is made interesting throughout the film, the characters suffered from being one dimensional and the second half of the film felt a little predictable and long. However, the film did manage to keep me engaged and was even insightful as it is a subject matter that I am not very familiar with.
While the characters felt a little bit flat at times, the acting from the cast managed to do a brilliant job at making the film continuously watchable. The cinematographer and lighting designer also deserve to be mentioned for the great presentation of the film in managing to get the most out of the colours for each location, giving off cold and very slight bright emotions throughout the story.
While I may not have seen Olivier Masset-Depasse’s previous work, it was refreshing to see a film focusing on something that is controversial and at the same time tell an emotional story of the battle of a mother reuniting with her son. I mentioned that the story structure of the film does feel a little long for ninety five minutes and while this was a little bit of an issue for me, it is not a major one.
While it is currently having trouble getting distribution in the UK, I completely support the film to get shown in this country and if you do get a chance to see it, please take up the chance as it is a great dramatic film.
