A refugee family’s world unravels when their daughter falls into a coma after being refused asylum.

Sergei and Natalia, a refugee couple, flee Russia with their two daughters to start a new life in Sweden, seeking asylum after being violently persecuted in their homeland. When their application is rejected, their youngest daughter Katja mysteriously falls into a coma, a condition linked to Child Resignation Syndrome. With bureaucratic indifference and a rigid healthcare system obstructing their efforts to save her, the family faces emotional and moral struggles as they try to restore hope.

In this harrowing family drama, bolstered by a chillingly restrained tone and emotionally controlled performances, Alexandros Avranas poignantly explores the devastating effects of trauma and despair on displaced families, and exposes a system in which empathy and humanity are in danger of collapsing.

Massimo Iannetti