Limbo is a tragicomedy specifically addressing the hot topic in the good old angry UK, asylum seekers, refugees. Seen from the point of view of the four young men who are awaiting the results of their applications we are thrown into the quirky and dull life on the remote Scottish Island. The director and writer Sharrock cleverly paces the story along these lines. For extended periods of time nothing happens, standing around, walking from point to point, meeting the strange locals, both racist and yet also friendly. The pace is gentle to say the least.

Sharrock brilliantly blindsides the angry racists out there by not showing the four principal characters in a heavenly, can-do-no-wrong, light. Without spoiling the plot, they, like all of us at times, are not entirely honest but the brilliant part is they are not demonised. They are human beings and if you were in the same situation would you do the same – truthfully, most of us would.

There are no cheap flashbacks here to flesh out our protagonists but once again Sharrock shows budget-friendly skills but using Omar’s partially amusing and always heart-breaking once-a-week phone calls back to his parents, refugees themselves in Turkey, as exposition.

Amir El-Masry is pitch-perfect as the stone-faced Omar who leads us through the story. Just from his skilful performance you can tell his heart and soul are broken from the decision his family has made and the trip he has undertaken. He observes but never fully engages, taking taunts from the equally as bored and oddly friendly and racist island youth as stoically as he takes his friend Farhad’s ideas of managing him and putting him forward to a local talent show.


Farhad is the Ying to Omar’s Yang, fully rounded as a character but more upbeat and the viewers comic-foil he is equally as skilfully played by Vikash Bhai, chain-smoking, with a stolen chicken as his pet, played out very movingly at the stories end believe it or not, he, along with Helga and Boris’ "Cultural Awareness 101", stop the film from wallowing in sadness and presiding in the dark. Again, some skilful storytelling by Sharrock, the absurdity of life sitting alongside the sorry and loss. Another shout out to Sidse Babett Knudsen and Kenneth Collard [Cuckoo] as the well-meaning but comic foils, Collard in particular makes me laugh by just standing there.

The final two characters, in essentially this four-hander, are Wasef and Abedi two ‘brothers’ coming from Africa played by Ola Orebiyi and Kwabena Ansah which basically gives Sharrock a four from four with his casting skills. The two seeming brothers have varied reasons for seeking asylum and their stories conclude very differently to Omar and Farhad’s but they all share the house together and discuss/argue about mundane things such as Friends and playing for Chelsea Football Club.


The cinematography by Nick Cooke highlights the sparse lonely wilderness of the barren island making it almost a fifth character, solemn, unforgiving and beautiful. Shots of isolated bus stops and buildings against the vast skylines further underline the isolation in a stark and uncomplicated way.


Despite the comedic moments of visits to the island’s only supermarket, [the spices rack and rules against urinating] and the integration lessons, we never lose sight of the fact that the four men are truly lost in Limbo, with no idea which is the worst thing, the guilt, the waiting or the bleak life of basically ‘nothing’.


Limbo is a beautifully directed, written and acted film and all involved should be proud of their involvement. A story as old as the human race, moving across the world to find a better place is told with humour, empathy but above all truth. It is a story about a sort of forced camaraderie where comfort must be taken by shared circumstances. It is peppered with absurd set pieces and dramatic tragedy this film is highly recommended. Unless you are an angry puce-faced racist that know they are always right – but then again I doubt any of those read my waffle.

"A musician who doesn't play is dead" is probably true but filmmakers who make wonderful stories are alive forever.

I recommend this sensitive, fun and sad look at the modern asylum seeker in the United Kingdom.