Europa review – harrowing and immersive look at a refugee on the run

Here is a taut, thrilling feature from the Italian-Iraqi filmmaker Haider Rashid that really gets the heart racing, placing us in the shoes of a migrant as he attempts to make his way across the Turkish border into Bulgaria. Europa unfolds with the breathless pace of a chase thriller and at times – with its minimal dialogue and singular focus – almost has the air of a video game.

The opening titles inform us that migrants to this area are frequently captured and sometimes even killed  – not merely by border guards, but civilian militia in cahoots with the authorities calling themselves “migrant hunters.” Kamal (Adam Ali), an Iraqi refugee, is part of a group who are captured in the film's opening minutes, though by the skin of his teeth he manages to escape into the Bulgarian forest, pursued by gun-toting guards and snarling hounds.

Kamal's gruelling journey, captured in long close-ups that stay fixed to his face like in László Nemes's stunning holocaust drama Son of Saul, quickly comes to feel like a contemporary version of The Revenant, our protagonist dodging militants, braving the adverse conditions, and dragging himself over rocks as he forages for food and tries to reach his destination. Of course, unlike Leonardo DiCaprio's vengeful trapper, Kamal has nowhere to go.

The tight camera focus, paired with intense sound design (Kamal's heavy breathing never lets up), creates a real sense of claustrophobia – we're never given the chance to catch our own breath because Kamal can't find a moment to do the same. And Ali, whose face is in frame for almost the entire runtime, showcases the full spectrum of emotions in his soulful eyes, though it's a shame we never learn anything about Kamal as a human being, save for the cruel circumstances he finds himself in – and a suggestion that he loves football through his choice of shirt.

At just 71 minutes, the narrative does wind up feeling a little dragged out, not helped by long stretches where Rashid holds a take for too long. It arrives on an ambiguous though perhaps purposefully unsatisfying ending, asking the viewer to make up their mind about what happens next. Still, the film packs a punch, considering its low-budget. This is a tough, immersive experience created to inspire empathy and in that regard Europa is a success.

Europa is now showing in UK cinemas and on Curzon Home Cinema.