Limbo

Limbo (2020) is a deadpan tragicomedy from director Ben Sharrock, available to watch online on iFILM. Omar, a young Syrian musician, is stranded on a windswept Scottish island, waiting on a decision about his asylum claim.

The island is tiny and nearly empty — a handful of fellow refugees, one shop, awkward "cultural awareness" classes in the community hall, and a single phone box with a permanent queue of people calling home. Omar lugs his grandfather's oud everywhere but can't play it; his hand is in a cast and his heart isn't in it. Amir El-Masry carries the whole thing in close-ups and silences, with Vikash Bhai and Sidse Babett Knudsen around him.

Sharrock shoots in a boxy frame with a near-motionless camera, turning the wait into something dry, embarrassing and quietly funny — before it lands a gut-punch. A Cannes and BAFTA favourite that steps around the usual pity-the-migrant clichés. If you like the hushed comedy of Aki Kaurismäki or early Jim Jarmusch, this is your film. Stream Limbo (2020) online on iFILM.