Flee

Directed by Jonas Poher Rasmussen, Flee follows Afghan refugee Amin Nawabi as he and his family plot to escape their home country in the 1980s. Filmmaker Rasmussen delivers an admittedly erratic yet often riveting documentary that relies heavily on animation to tell Nawabi’s story, and there’s little doubt, certainly, that Flee grows more and more interesting (and engaging) as it unfolds – with the picture’s opening stretch, which details Nawabi’s childhood exploits, perhaps not quite as enthralling as Rasmussen has presumably intended. It’s clear, then, that the movie’s shift from passable to frequently engrossing is triggered by the aforementioned family’s efforts at making their way to Russia, as Rasmussen has infused this portion of the proceedings with a palpable tension that proves rather impossible to resist. (This is especially true of a harrowing section detailing certain characters’ perilous journey alongside human traffickers.) From there, Flee progresses into a mostly compelling midsection and third act that contains its fair share of poignant, affecting moments (eg Amin finally finds acceptance from an unexpected source) – which does, in the end, cement the film’s place as a relevant and consistently inventive true-life tale.

*** out of ****