Mark Reviews Movies: THE FLOOD (2020)

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Review by Mark Dujsik | April 30, 2020

Helen Kingston's screenplay for The Flood presents the mystery of a refugee—one of millions, some opening text informs us. The story here is fiction, but the movie's primary goal—to show, by way of combining countless and mostly untold stories, the experiences of refugees—is honest. The narrative means of achieving that purpose, though, don't always feel that way.

During a routine traffic stop, Haile (Ivanno Jeremiah) leaps out of the back of a semi-trailer, waving a knife at one of the police officers. The man originally comes from Africa, and after a long trek into the United Kingdom, he might be sent back.

This would almost certainly be a death sentence for Haile, who was once part of an unnamed country's military but deserted after being ordered to execute a civilian. As such, he's seeking asylum.

That's just the beginning of Haile's story, as told to a pair of immigration officials over the course of director Anthony Woodley's movie. The government workers are Wendy (Lena Headey), who has a reputation for speedy deportations, and her boss Philip (Iain Glen), who wants Haile returned to his homeland as soon as possible. It'll make his bosses, the politicians who want to appear tough when it comes to refugees, happy.

The central question—put forth by Wendy multiple times, in case we forget—is why Haile went after the cop with a knife. Is he a criminal? Is he a terrorist? Is there any justification for his actions?

Haile's story unfolds in a series of flashbacks, and it's filled with the sorts of contrivances that one might expect from a tale cobbled together from the most difficult and troubling accounts of refugees. That part of the movie is pure melodrama, although it almost doesn't matter. We sense the authenticity of the assorted scenarios, and Jeremiah's restrained performance is filled with internalized despair.

As Haile's past meets up with the present, though, the end result becomes wholly predictable. The two immigration officials are pretty much useless in terms of the story (Wendy's personal life becomes a distraction) or even providing the proper political and legal context for Haile's situation, and as a result, we never get a sense of how Haile's story will have any bearing on his fate. The Flood, then, is a movie that puts its good intentions above every other narrative concern.

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