Limbo (2020 film)
Limbo is a 2020 British comedy-drama film, directed by Ben Sharrock. The film centres on four asylum seekers who are staying on a remote island in Scotland, and taking cultural awareness classes, while awaiting the processing of their refugee claims. The film was named as an Official Selection of the 2020 Cannes Film Festival, but was not screened due to the cancellation of the physical festival in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. The film has gained positive reviews and has won several awards and nominations. Limbo garnered four nominations at the 2020 British Independent Film Awards  (BIFAs) including Amir El-Masry Best Actor, Irune Gurtubai Breakthrough Producer, and Nick Cooke Best Cinematography, for which it won Breakthrough Producer. It has also been nominated for two British Academy Film Awards, including Outstanding British Film. Plot. An offbeat observation of the refugee experience. On a fictional remote Scottish island, a group of new arrivals await the results of their asylum claims. Among them is Omar, a young Syrian musician burdened by the weight of his grandfather's oud, which he has carried all the way from his homeland. Release. The film had its world premiere at the Toronto  International Film Festival on 12 September 2020. Prior to, MUBI acquired U.K. and Irish distribution rights to the film. It was initially set to world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in May 2020, prior to its cancellation due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In February 2021, Focus Features acquired U.S. distribution rights to the film. It was released in the United States on 30 April 2021, and the United Kingdom on 30 July 2021. Reception. On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of based on critic reviews, with an average rating of . The site's critical  consensus reads, "A profoundly uplifting portrait of the refugee experience, "Limbo" is distinguished by its offbeat tone -- and overall impressive work from debuting director Ben Sharrock." Peter Bradshaw of "The Guardian" praised "Limbo"s "elegant deadpan style established from the outset, Sharrock soon gets you to invest in the characters and care deeply about what happens to them. "Limbo" is about refugees and asylum seekers in Britain, and it's a bracingly internationalist and non-parochial piece of work: film-making with a bold view on the world but also as gentle and intimate as a much-loved sitcom... This is  superlative film-making from Sharrock."