A superb British filmmaker, Pawlikowski is equally gifted in fiction (like this film, about the plight in bleakest England of a young Russian émigré and her son) and in documentary.

| May 2, 2024

Pawlikowski uses realism to highlight the crushing bureaucracy, dehumanizing conditions, and threats of exploitation that come with being an asylum seeker, but remarkably, bleakness isn’t the overriding tone.

| Original Score: 8/10 | Sep 8, 2023

The intimate, unadorned performances add a realistic immediacy to entire piece.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Feb 11, 2009

| Original Score: 5/5 | Dec 27, 2007

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Dec 6, 2005

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Jun 29, 2005

Full Review | Original Score: 1/5 | Mar 1, 2004

Full Review | Original Score: 5/5 | Oct 16, 2003

Pawlikowski and his cast have been honoured for this film at festivals across the continent, the greatest award for them would be for you to watch and think.

| Original Score: 4/5 | May 22, 2003

A tragic but quite educational tour of the Western countries' refugee process.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Mar 11, 2003

An unabashed, if subdued ode to star-crossed lovers everywhere.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Dec 8, 2002

One of the few films to get at the ways in which single mothers and their sons alternate being authority figures.

Full Review | Sep 26, 2002

What was missing for me was a story that was engaging or interesting.

| Original Score: 5/10 | Sep 22, 2002

This quiet film gains its power from small moments and unforced, convincing performances.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Aug 30, 2002

| Original Score: B- | Feb 4, 2002

"Last Resort" does not have the feel of a fictional piece, but instead appears to be unfolding as the events occur.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Dec 21, 2001

Writer/director Pawel Pawlikowski strikes a wonderful balance between pathos and tenderness.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Nov 16, 2001

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Jul 16, 2001

Effortlessly burrows beneath the surface of quietly desperate lives and finds the humanity within.

Full Review | Apr 20, 2001

A remarkably thoughtful and disturbing work.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Apr 16, 2001