Nowhere

I will never forget my visit at the sea border between Spain and Marocco back in 2002. We came by boat to Marocco and one of the first things i encountered at the beach border was seeing families wanting to leave Marocco to start a new life in Spain. Some of the families only had a plastic bag of clothes and nothing else. I remember especially one father of 2 children trying to climb over a barricade, where border patrol threatned him with guns if he didn´t get down. Imagine seeing this with your very own eyes, a desperate father just trying to make a better life for his children and wife, being threatened with guns. This is an image i have never forgotten and this is exactly 21 years ago. I remember i asked a man who was one the same boat as me, if this is something he sees very often. And he said:- Yes everytime i go back to the border, it´s not unusual to see families gather to try and get out. This man was a salesman living in Spain but made business in Marocco by selling clothes and shoes. So he would take this boat with supplies instead of flying, because it was cheaper as well. He did tell me that we should be thankful we have a home and we have food on our table. And i agreed with him and started to think about we really don´t have much to complain about. Speaking of refugees there are some very interesting films that i can highly recommend that brings up the subject of refugees. One of the most powerful refugee drama films i have seen is the 2018 drama film Capernaum from director Nadine Labaki. Capernaum tells the story of the young boy Zain ( Zain al-Rafeea ), a 12-year-old Lebanese boy who fled from his negligent parents and lived on streets. This is where he meets Ethiopian migrant worker Rahil ( Yordanos Shiferaw ), who provides him with shelter and food, as Zain takes care of her baby son Yonas in return. Zain get in legal trouble and is thrown in jail for commiting a violent crime, but Zain is not giving up seeking justice. This is a film that everyone should see that really capture how difficult life can be for refugees and how you survive on the street. No matter where you find Capernaum on streaming or a physical copy it´s a must watch for everyone. Not that long ago i watched a Spanish thriller called Nowhere that´s basically about refugees but have a very special twist in the plot. So the question is should you watch Nowhere on Netflix or should you find something else to watch there instead?

A young pregnant woman Mia ( Anna Castillo ) tries to flee pregnant with her husband as they are both refugees. As they manage to get on board a container that´s supposed to hide refugees, the border patrol find the secret door and kill everyone where Mia is stuck, while her husband is transfered to another container. Luckily Mia managed to hide up on a box and survive, but as the container is moved from a cargo ship Mia hits her head and faint. She wakes up and see outside the bullet holes in the container that it´s floating out in the ocean. She is all alone with her baby and no one else is anywhere to be seen.

Nowhere feels fascinating when it comes to telling a futuristic and dystopian story from a refuggee perspective. What do i mean by that? Well i would say for two different reasons. First of all the fact that the government give orders to wipe out elderly, children and mothers as well because of over-population and lack of space. This almost feels like we are back in World War II where the nazis wiped out Jewish families but in this film it is done as a more modern take on solving refugee problems. The second detail is that pregnant women are not allowed to be refugees, in fact our main character has to cover her belly to be able to get herself and her husband to safety. Imagine living in a world where a woman being pregnant is considered to be a bad thing, i can´t imagine accepting a society that is this cruel towards women. Just because a woman is a refugee and is pregnant doesnt make her any dangerous at all, in fact she bring hope with a child coming in the future. When the film switches to telling a story surrounding our main character waking up inside of floating container in the sea, this film becomes like a different version of Tom Hanks classis Cast Away. A very interesting idea for a survival themed film and something we have never seen before, at least nothing i have experienced in any survival films from the past. Leac actress Anna Castillo as the main character Mia does a really good performance considering her very difficult situation out in the sea pregnant. To see her try to find ways to get out of the container while being ready to give birth to her child makes the situation extremely difficult. Nowhere is a well made drama thriller that does not only look great but is actually intelligent as well as a survival thriller. Director Albert Pinto deliver a film that definetely give us a different portrait of a pregnant woman in a film that not only manage to capture our attention effective, but also tell a story that´s fascinating. Nowhere is a Spanish thriller that should be experienced on Netflix, especially if you want to see a strong female character in a very complicated situation.

Rating: DDD