Quartile rating: 7.5/10 · 1 rating
Recounted mostly through animation to protect his identity, Amin looks back over his past as a child refugee from Afghanistan as he grapples with a secret he’s kept hidden for 20 years.
Flee is a remarkable animated documentary that weaves together personal trauma, refugee experience, and LGBTQ+ identity in a wholly singular way. The use of animation to reconstruct suppressed or sensitive memories is executed with genuine artistry, making the cinematography and visual storytelling genuinely exceptional. The narrative itself — Amin's layered secret-keeping across decades — is gripping and emotionally complex, earning a strong plot score. Novelty is very high: the animated documentary form has rarely been used this intimately or effectively, and the film's voice is unmistakably its own. The 'acting' (voice performance and interview work) is earnest and affecting but not extraordinary. The ending, while emotionally resonant, is somewhat understated and lacks the full cathartic resolution the buildup promises, settling for quiet hope rather than a truly memorable final note.