To a Land Unknown Review: Harsh World, Harsh Actions

Mahdi Fleifel’s compelling and resonant To a Land Unknown is an aching study of what actions displaced people are forced to turn to when presented with sparse alternatives.

The situation is tumultuous, difficult, and most of all, dehumanising. They are people no longer viewed as people, enduring a diminished status that is given credence by figures like Donald Trump and that makes To a Land Unknown as timely a film as they come.

To a Land Unknown quickly characterises the two leads: as the two search through a stolen handbag, Reda worries that medicine in the bag will be needed by the woman from whom they stole it, whilst Chatila, despite feeling guilt, recognises that they can’t return it. Instantly, we have two opposing figures. Both men are good-natured, but Reda’s decency still fights more than Chatila’s; simply put, Reda is an idealist, whilst Chatila is a realist. After creating such an interesting dynamic, co-writers Mahdi Fleifel (A World Not Ours), Fyzal Boulifa (Lynn + Lucy), and Jason McColgan (Kindred) give their relationship real legs and depth, with the two men’s moralities and emotions crashing against one another throughout To a Land Unknown.

Reda and Chatila take a shine to a young boy called Malik (Mohammad Alsurafa) and concoct a plan to help him reach his aunt (Manal Awad, Huda’s Salon) in Italy, with the help of local Greek woman, Tatiana (Angeliki Papoulia, Dogtooth, The Lobster). Here, the first inklings of Fleifel’s interesting musing on morality come into play. Is Reda and Chatila’s aid simply because they want to help Malik, or does the promise of financial gain spur them on? Perhaps it is both. Fleifel merges these two motives into something wholly murky, ambiguous, and challengingly complex. After Malik and Tatiana are unable to be reached on the phone, leaving their successful arrival in Italy unclear, To a Land Unknown delves deeper into this cloudy thought process.

It is a fascinating tangent, as we witness intense desperation drive Reda and Chatila to drastic measures, although this prickly, interesting direction never quite goes deep enough. Again, Reda is the one more in turmoil over their actions; Chatila clearly doesn’t want to do what they’re doing, but he recognises the dog-eat-dog world in which he finds himself. Fleifel, Boulifa, and McColgan consistently come back to the earlier statement, showing what people are forced to do when they are treated like dogs or simply ignored. The build-up to these thornier aspects of the plot is a little slow, but it is mostly necessary for building a believable world and tangible characters.

It’s a vicious world that could not be further from the idyllic tourist images of Athens. The city is conjured up as a hazy, suffocating place, whilst Nadah El Shazly’s (The Damned Don’t Cry) original score wouldn’t feel out of place in a horror film. Germany is talked of as a utopia, but even that is far from the truth if the right help isn’t given. As the events of To a Land Unknown unravel in anxious and tense ways, we are, along with Reda and Chatila, forced to abandon decency. Will they succeed in their escape, and at what cost to others? If they are treated as animals, then they will have to act like them too.

To A Land Unknown will be released in cinemas in the UK and Ireland on February 14, 2025.