In my opinion, the movie uses very good camera and audio visual equipment and the crew members and the filmmakers have played their roles very well. I really liked it.

The background was so interesting

Recently nominated for two BAFTA® awards for Best British Film and Best Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer, LIMBO is a wry and poignant observation of the refugee experience, set on a fictional remote Scottish island where a group of new arrivals await the results of their asylum claims. It centers on Omar, a young Syrian musician who is burdened by his grandfather's oud, which he has carried all the way from his homeland. Reflecting the complexity of the movement of people across borders has been a long-held passion for director and writer Ben Sharrock, who spent time working for an NGO in refugee camps in southern Algeria and living in Damascus in 2009 shortly before the outbreak of the Syrian civil war. There, he formed a network of friends whose personal stories inspired the film.

A moving tale of a Syrian musician and other refugees waiting for a decision on their asylum application. The frames are beautiful, the style understated yet powerful.

A tragicomedy that glimpses into lives of asylum-seekers on a secluded Scottish island centering upon on a Syrian musician torn between fleeing his homeland and returning to die fighting as a martyr has its own identity crisis to be either Wes Anderson-esque deadpan or Paweł Aleksander Pawlikowski-esque solemn.

British film doing what British films do best. A deeply moving and at times tragic story but with a big dose of humour thrown in that makes you laugh out loud from the opening scenes.

The idea is great but like all films folk try in Scotland the accents are shite. If you set a film in Newcastle would you fill every role with Scousers? No you wouldnt. The film tries and succeeds in showing immigrant problems whilst weirdly propagating some strangely stereotypical Scottish thing. If only the folk behind this actually understood (and listened to at least the accents of) Islanders. Leaves it coming across as thirsty on many levels, all you needed was a Tranny and every box would be ticked!

pathetic no story bad script

An excellent sensitive and thought provoking film.

It's a movie you want to stop watching but can't. The complete loneliness is hard to wrap your head around that it makes you uncomfortable. It's a film to take a step back from the every day rat race, slow down and embrace a turmoil unaccustomed to. Beautifully filmed with dialogue that holds hope for people whose world is torn. Everything is out of their control.

'Limbo' tries to tell the overarching tale of the refugee experience with humor, but it just doesn't work. Set on a fictional Scottish island, Ben Sharrock's film lacks a sense of originality. It is just the age-ole tale of an outcast or in this case refugees. The film lacks a sense of time and that's probably by design. These castaways are wandering in a place where time doesn't matter and perhaps doesn't exist. The final act is touching, hopeful and happy and brings the film together very well. The problem is, at times, it was a slog to get there. Would have made a great short film, but at one hour and 44 minutes... Yikes! Final Score: 4/10

This film is quirky and thoughtful. I liked the way scenes are filmed with a panoramic view of the barren landscape, bringing home how isolating it must be for the few people who find themselves somewhat stranded on small Scottish islands. It shows the Scottish locals as not entirely keen on the refugees, for numerous reasons - I have no doubt racism still exists in Scotland. It made me think about how welcoming Scotland is thought of as being towards foreigners and how this perhaps isn't always the case in reality. The scenes featuring fellow refugees receiving training to do with fitting in with British culture, were eye opening in terms of how the teachers interact with the refugees and at times even slightly amusing, in terms of the dialogue and situations. Its poignant at times, with good cinematography, so I'd certainly recommend it, yes.

The movie is a drag that doesn’t say much new about the refugee experience for anyone with a reasonable amount of familiarity with current events. Much of the movie has a Napoleon Dynamite tone that doesn’t pay off. There are maybe a dozen funny moments, most of which are shown in the trailer and come in the first half hour. Predictable ending. Hard to love a movie that seems intent on making its audience feel in “limbo” …. With that said, not a terrible movie. Overall, I’d call it a missed opportunity. With some better character development and a more efficient plot, this could have been good.

Quirky movie, with a great heartfelt message. Something a bit different.

beautiful and touching. Everyone should watch this incredible film.

A movie full of great moments but not a great movie. Yes - important messaging but five too many phone calls home and lonely meandering scenes. The picture format gimmick was frankly irritating. I'd have far preferred seeing the broad beautiful landscapes to truncation for the sake of the heavy handed broadening metaphor. I left my homeland years ago - I get it. I'd imagine the director is a Local Hero fan.

Omar, a Syrian man who's fled his country and is seeking asylum in Britain awaits his acceptance in Limbo, an emotional journey of self discovery and self acceptance. A comedy/drama written and directed by Ben Sharrock, Limbo is equal parts saddening, joyful, and tender. As Omar and his roommate await word from the government, Omar is haunted by his decision to leave war-torn Syria and his parents in order to attempt to make a better life. Accompanying him on this journey is his oud, a musical instrument Omar is renown for playing back home, but doesn't as much as strum throughout the film. This is in part due to the fact that Omar starts the movie with a broken hand, but once the cast comes off, the most he allows himself to do is occasionally tune it. Still, he carries his oud everywhere he goes, as if it's his last attachment to his family back home and he dare not let it out of his sight. Of the group of refugees, the two that receive the least amount of screen time are Wasef and Abedi, both refugees from Africa that are in Scotland under false pretenses. The dynamic between the two is brotherly, as they argue over the fates of Ross and Rachel in Friends and whether or not Wasef is good enough to make a football club in Europe. While not in the movie often, they bring a different sort of worldview, apart from the likes of Omar and his housemate Farhad. Their story brief and ultimately tragic, the pair of characters help to expand Omar's small world and bring perspective to the fact that refugees can come from anywhere and be going anywhere. As the film progresses, Omar's estrangement becomes twofold: not only is he in an unfamiliar world with few resources but the nature of conversation between him and his parents at home also changes. At beginning his parents go from doubting his brother Nabil fighting in the war to eventually praising him. This creates the only real source of tension and conflict in the movie as Omar and his brother share opposing ideals on how to best handle the situation in Syria. Their eventual confrontation, the peak of Omar's journey throughout the movie, is a quiet affair, accentuated by actor Kais Nashef as Nabil who commands the screen in the one scene he's in. At the front and center of this movie is Amir El-Masry, playing Omar, one of many transitioning immigrants parked on this fictional Scottish island. We see the landscape through Omar's eyes as he navigates the other immigrants, the temptations of illegal work, and his own personal issues. The heart of Omar's struggle is the decision of whether or not he made the right choice to leave. This issue is brought up time and time again on the phone calls with his parents, as well as their declining financial situation.. El-Masry plays the conflicted Omar wonderfully, fulling put his heart on his sleeve and making it easy for the audience to endear themselves to him. His gentle nature and calm demeanor makes Omar the perfect protagonist to take us on this journey. Likewise, Vikash Bhai as Omar's housemate Farhad is delightfully quirky, providing the majority of the humor in the film. Farhad's constant sweet optimism and earnestness to assist Omar with his music contrasts against Omar's inner conflict, making a for a great odd coupling of friends. Farhad's own motivations for leaving his country are more implicitly stated than Omar's but still serve to give him depth and dimension and by the film's end, viewers will be overjoyed at Farhad's circumstances. El-Masry and Bhai carry the emotional heft of the dramedy, while Sidse Babett Knudsen and Kenneth Collard as the group's peculiar cultural sensitivity teachers lead the rest of the eclectic, quirky cast. Directed by Ben Sharrock, Limbo is minimalistic in its approach: sparse settings and wide open areas help create the feeling of reclusiveness felt by Omar as he struggles to adapt to his settings while he waits for his immigration papers. This low key approach is assisted greatly by cinematographer Nick Cooke and by the set design. Outside, a number of scenes are shot with plenty of visible open space behind the characters to show the expanse of this fictional Scottish island and how isolated they are from the rest of society. Even the closest telephone booth is nowhere in sight of the smattering of units they're housed in. Inside those units, only the absolute barest appliances are found: no wall art, very little furniture, and few things of personal value are seen on the screen as way to remind the viewers that while they packed light to leave their country neither have they acquired anything new to start building a new life. Even the grocery store Omar visits on occasion contains almost completely empty shelves. The shot composition and set design help give life to a location that while populated is still shrouded in loneliness. Overall, Limbo is an amazingly sweet story of a man lost between worlds and struggling to find his identity. Amir El-Masry and Vikash Bhai are stellar standouts in this somewhat ensemble film that manages to deftly balance the humor and a subject as serious immigration. Competently directed by Ben Sharrock, Limbo is a film that should be seen by many and unfortunately will be seen by far too few. At times funny and at different times heart wrenching, the film is an eye opening insight into the struggles of leaving one's home country in search of a new one.

Limbo is a film of strange chemistry, some profound moments and some comedy that fell a bit flat. I thought the film finished strongly after a shaky opening. Written and directed by Ben Sharrock the film centres on the stories of four refugees awaiting asylum on a remote Scottish island. The main character is Omar, a Syrian musician who is really struggling with isolation. Most of their days are spent doing not much at all, except for the English classes they are taking. I did struggle initially with the film as I thought the humour was a bit forced. It felt like the film was trying way too hard to be unconventional. But it does gain rhythm as the personal stories take centre stage and the final 20 minutes or so is truly beautiful. A successful film in parts but not totally.

Funny and bleak. Note perfect. As if filmed by Tati, but in a desolate landscape.

As a syrian, this is REAL, I've known people that have been through this & even worse than that. This movie really gets you into the emptiness "Omar" has been struggling with... I loved it, the movie is fantastic!