Teenage best friends Doe and Muna are heading off on what seems like the trip of a lifetime. Quiet, observant Doe hasn’t travelled since arriving in the UK as a Somali refugee aged three. Muna, sharp and fearless with Pakistani roots, leads them through airport security and into the unknown. But this isn’t a holiday. The girls are bound for Istanbul, planning to cross into Syria to begin a new life they believe holds purpose and meaning. When their fixer fails to appear, panic sets in, but turning back isn’t an option. Alone in a foreign city, they must improvise fast, pushing the limits of their courage, their faith, and their friendship.
Acting
Hassan and Ingar's silences hit harder than dialogue
Direction
Fall keeps you complicit in their hope
Cinematography
Istanbul as limbo—beautiful and threatening
Director
Nadia Fall
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Director Nadia Fall, daughter of Somali refugees, insisted on casting first-time actors with lived refugee experience—Hassan arrived in the UK under similar circumstances to Doe.
The film deliberately avoids showing Syria—this isn't about the destination but the dangerous romance of the journey itself, and who profits from young women's hopelessness.
GB
