During increased reporting on migration issues, Netflix’s drama/thriller, ‘ Nowhere,’ ranked among the top 10 in most BRICS countries.
Nowhere ranked in the top ten for an average of three weeks and longer in Argentina, Brazil, Egypt, India, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and the United Arab Emirates.
The plot
Think: A Handmaid’s Tale meets Castaway.
The Spanish movie aims to tell the story of one woman’s determination to survive a harrowing journey of illegal migration from a totalitarian country.
While the audience is not given any clues about the country, scenes of women and children being ripped from their families by armed militia groups are a common theme.
More harrowing is those who are caught escaping the country are killed on the spot, even young children.
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It starts with Mia (played by Anna Castillo) and her husband, Niko, being aggressively and covertly hurried and loaded into a shipping container with other people, primarily women fleeing the same country.
We learn early on that Mia is heavily pregnant, and the couple have already lost one child to the regime.
The real action starts after Mia and Niko are separated, and military groups discover the illegal migrants during a cross boarder check. Mia’s quick thinking helps her escape being executed, but it is only the beginning for our heroine.
Pregnant, alone and lost at sea in a shipping container filled with Tupperware and flatscreens, our heroine gives birth at sea alone and must fight to protect her newborn and survive.
Rating: 7/10
WATCH: ‘Nowhere’, the trailer
Directed by Albert Pinto, Nowhere hits close to home.
Millions of people are still making precarious journeys by sea, hoping to start afresh in more developed countries.
The Pew Research Centre shows that illegal migration by sea is a significant issue in many parts of the world, including the Caribbean, Europe, and the United States.
In the United States, the Coast Guard has been working to stop illegal migration at sea for over 40 years, with the most common nationalities attempting to migrate illegally to Florida being Cuban and Haitian.
In Europe, tens of thousands of migrants from poor and war-stricken countries attempt a risky journey by boat for what they hope will be a better life.
Crossing the ocean to enter a country illegally poses numerous dangers, including the risk of suffocation, drowning, and exploitation.
Smuggled migrants are often subjected to grave human rights abuses, such as being squeezed into small spaces in trucks or onto unseaworthy boats, and maybe raped, beaten, or left to die during the journey.
The journey can be treacherous, with migrants exposed to harsh forces and dangers of the ocean, including frigid and rough waters, dangerous rip currents, and unpredictable weather conditions, as seen in the movie.
The Mediterranean Sea, for example, has been the site of numerous migrant vessel incidents, resulting in thousands of deaths. Additionally, illegal migration by sea can lead to legal consequences, including deportation, bans on re-entry, and criminal penalties.
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