Flee

There are many powerful true stories of refugees fleeing violence in their home countries, but none quite like the animation/documentary hybrid Flee.

Effectively employing therapy-style interviews, writer/director Jonas Poher Rasmussen coaxes his childhood friend Amin Nawabi to revisit the events that brought him from war-torn Afghanistan to Denmark. Though it in no way cheapens the experience, the colorful animation helps soften the story’s gut-wrenching nature, but is also used to obscure Amin’s true identity for reasons that continue to compound as his story unravels and deceptions are revealed. 

The nightmarish conditions experienced by refugees are often horrific to behold, yet sharing them feels necessary to spotlight an often maligned and misunderstood diaspora. Amin’s story reveals the depth of one refugee’s odyssey, a depth further complicated by the lies he has to fabricate to escape a near-hopeless situation, and that continue to threaten his security and existence today as he’s anonymously interviewed by Rasmussen.

Flee is an apt anecdote of the effects of refugee trauma and its psychological impacts on someone’s identity who had to hide his past, all while simultaneously grappling with his own sexuality within an intolerant culture. The heart-pounding fear within the journeys of escape and human trafficking are one form of torment and uncertainty, but even after the “freedom” of arrival, there remains a constant fear of being discovered, captured, and returned to a hopeless, dead-end situation. Even though Amin’s life is spared, he’s stuck living the lie, lest the truth strip away the small semblance of freedom he has. 

Although Flee is a difficult sit, the moments of joy and self discovery — though brief — deliver a fuller picture of Amin’s humanity and the hope for his transcendence beyond this trauma. 

Grade: A-minus. Rated: PG-13. Starts Jan. 28 at Grail Moviehouse

(Photo: Neon)