Flee

I'm going to try to catch this year's Oscar nominated International and Documentary films again this year. Key word is "try," for some of them aren't accessible in my area now. At least one will be in theatres soon but is playing at inopportune times.

I'll start my trek with the movie that's up for both awards. Flee, Denmark's entry, is that film, which is also nominated for Best Animated Feature. I worried that I'd be waiting for a theatrical release that would never come. But here it is now on Hulu.

Jonas Poher Rasmussen chronicles his high school pal, Amin Nawabi, an Afghani refugee, and how he made it to Denmark. He realized early on he was gay thanks to the films of Jean-Claude Van Damme. His pilot father was seized by the Muhajadeen as a political dissenter. The Afghani Civil War forced him and the rest of his family to hightail it to Russia. They soon lived in fear of poverty and deportation. Human traffickers helped them across the border for a price.

Meanwhile, Amin is about to marry his boyfriend, Kasper. Amin has never told Kasper about his rough past. But he'll now tell Rasmussen about it through multiple interviews. Amin is often shown in close-up lying on a couch. His world weariness is front and center even if his true face (and name, for Amin isn't it) isn't on display. That's before he divulges his life story full of bleakness and brevity.

You'll notice that the animation here isn't Pixar perfect. The scenery is full of brisk colors, but the characters move choppily. A few flashbacks even resemble moving sketches. But you can't deny the emotions here. One of those flashbacks visualizes Amin's mother's fear of drowning. That plays out when a trafficker vessel they're on starts flooding. As if being locked below the lightless decks wasn't a terrifying concept before. He and his fellow refugees are naturally overjoyed to be spotted by a Norwegian cruise ship. But that turns to palpable despair when they're informed the Estonian Coast Guard will send them back.

Both the traffickers and Russian police are presented as terrifying villains. Both hate it when they're not appeased with bribes. Amin and his brother have an encounter with the police in which they meet a nameless immigrant girl that they never see again. What could've happened is the scary part. Meanwhile, the traffickers threaten to shoot an elderly refugee when she slows them down. It's little wonder that Amin pretends to be an orphaned refugee instead of going with the traffickers to Denmark. It's not an easy choice to make or commit to.

One of the earliest scenes shows young Amin running around listening to Take Me On. A carefree lad unaware of the political unrest waiting to explode. He said he always knew he was different. But he didn't know his family knew. When he comes out at the end, his family gives him some money for a gay bar. His scenes with his family, and Kasper, give the subject matter its needed brevity.

Flee certainly earns its three nominations. Its unique animation style is mixed with live-action clips to tell its tale. It's a captivating story about one man's quest for survival. You won't forget any one of its 89 minutes. It's worth checking out on Hulu or in theatres if it's playing there. There's also an English dub available with Riz Ahmed (who executive produced this) voicing Amin. Either language is great; just give it a watch.