An immigration officer must decide the fate of an asylum seeker, as he tells his version of the story. What is the truth and does it actually have a sinister reason for seeking asylum?
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Wendy has a reputation for being a hardened immigration officer and is given a very high profile case because of her ability to very quickly reject applicants. Haile is the man in question and we get it follow his journey of 5000 km over oceans and many borders to find a safe home in the UK. His final hurdle is attempting to prove to Wendy that he just wants to be able to have a happy life.
The Flood is truly tough viewing at times as it is based on multiple stories rolled into one for the film. It certainly manages to highlight the true struggles and risks involved for the refugees. Along with that it also highlights the struggles that the immigration offers also face, ensuring that the UK in this case is not going to allow terrorists to seek asylum. It certainly is a very tough job for them as well, as surely everyone has a story?
This gives the viewer a big chance to feel like you are immigration officer and listening to this story attempting to decide another persons fate while protecting the population of the country at the same time. I certainly do not think I could cope with that kind of pressure!
Ivanno Jeremiah is outstanding from start to finish in this film and I found myself being truly taken aback by his performance and the level of realism that was felt towards Haile. Then we get Lena Headey opposite him in that room and she is given a very tough role. As to begin with it really does not feel like Wendy cares about anything at all truly giving up on her life as well as her job. Iain Glen was in a supporting role and I have to admit I really did enjoy this different type of character for him.
The refugee crisis is something that has been very high profile over the past few years and this film certainly manages to highlight so many things that I had never really thought about before. The journey is so much more than them being trapped at a border, the reasons for doing it all different. Then at the same time needing to ensure that those who are given asylum are safe and really do just want a better life and another chance. Haunting and heartbreaking moments but everything is set up a little bit too nicely in the film and probably could have gone a bit deeper.
