--- title: "Flee: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/flee/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/flee" critics_score: 86 critics_reviews: 26 licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Flee (2021): what the critics said Critics' score 86 from 26 reviews: 25 positive, 1 mixed, 0 negative. The reviews are almost unanimously warm. Twenty-five of twenty-six critics are positive, and the praise clusters on the same decision: telling a refugee’s story through hand-drawn animation. Most find that the technique does two jobs at once, protecting Amin’s anonymity while making memories he could never have filmed fully visible, and several single out the sea crossing in a freight container as the sequence that lands hardest. The friendship between Rasmussen and his subject is credited for the film’s candour about sexuality and shame as well as flight. The spread is narrow, and the reservations are about the same device. Slant Magazine is the lone mixed voice, finding the muted animation keeps the viewer at arm’s length from the man himself and flattens the emotional detail. The AV Club notes that, as a real and untidy account, the story occasionally frustrates, and Eye for Film sees some stiffness in the realistic drawing style. ## The Telegraph — Robbie Collin Rating 5/5. 10 February 2022. The review calls Flee a thrillingly unique and achingly beautiful animated study of a gay Afghan refugee’s memories, noting that animation is the ideal medium for preserving anonymity while making the extraordinary yet commonplace story fully visible. It singles out the hand-drawn style blending impressionistic and precise recollections. [Read the review](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/2022/02/10/flee-review-unlikely-oscar-contender-thrilling-proposition/) ## Empire — Joshua Rothkopf Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 8 February 2022. Documentary filmmaker Jonas Poher Rasmussen uses animation to tell the unique story of his friend's migration and personal secrets in a way that blends memory, therapy and subtle comedy. The film is a complex, stirring heartbreaker that lends lyricism to the migrant experience. [Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/flee/) ## IndieWire — Eric Kohn Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 28 January 2021. Festival review. The review describes the film as a thrilling, masterful survival story told through a visually startling animated approach that brings one man's revelatory refugee experiences to life. [Read the review](https://www.indiewire.com/criticism/movies/flee-review-animated-documentary-sundance-1234611605/) ## Los Angeles Times — Jen Yamato Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 3 December 2021. The critic calls it one of the most humane films of the year, an intimate portrait of displacement's lasting traumas that serves as both testimonial and catalyst for catharsis through the subject's reckoning with his past. [Read the review](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2021-12-03/flee-review) ## RogerEbert.com — Roxana Hadadi Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 3 December 2021. The critic praises the film's intimate, animated portrait of a refugee's trauma, resilience, and search for home and truth, calling it one of the year's best for its emotional depth and humane insight. [Read the review](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/flee-movie-review-2021) ## Screen Daily Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 29 January 2021. Festival review. The critic praises the thoughtful animated hybrid for enhancing the moving first-person story of an Afghan refugee with impressionistic animations and newsreel context. It singles out the technique's ability to expand precise recollections into emotional areas and its exploration of additional anxieties around sexuality. [Read the review](https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/flee-sundance-review/5156534.article) ## Sight and Sound Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 19 October 2021. Festival review. The critic calls the film an astonishing animated documentary that intimately explores a young gay Afghan refugee's journey from Kabul through Moscow to Denmark. It singles out the harrowing animated sequence of the family's sea crossing in a freight container for its emotional power and the film's critique of hostile refugee treatment. [Read the review](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/flee-an-astonishing-animated-portrait-young-refugee) ## The Guardian — Peter Bradshaw Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 13 February 2022. The critic praises Rasmussen’s animated documentary as a masterly, emotionally engaging and stylistically adventurous account of an Afghan refugee confronting his traumatic past. It highlights the film’s vivid animation, impressionistic sequences of flight and trafficking, and its arc from secrecy to openness as a triumph-of-the-human-spirit coming-of-age story. [Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2022/feb/13/flee-review-an-afghan-refugee-confronts-his-past-in-masterly-animated-documentary-jonas-poher-rasmussen) ## The Hollywood Reporter — David Rooney Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 28 January 2021. Festival review. The critic calls it a powerful and poetic memoir of personal struggle and self-discovery that expands the definition of documentary through its mix of hand-drawn animation and archival footage. It highlights the film's examination of refugee trauma and its unconventional queer love story. [Read the review](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/flee-film-review-sundance-2021-4123822/) ## The New York Times — A.O. Scott Rating Critic’s Pick. 2 December 2021. The critic hails the piercing animated documentary as a probing yet tactful psychological portrait of an Afghan refugee's journey, blending themes of displacement, secrecy, and coming out with trust born from the director's friendship with the subject. [Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/02/movies/flee-review.html) ## The Times — Kevin Maher Rating ★★★★☆. 11 February 2022. The critic hails the film as the defining entry in the serious animated documentary genre, profoundly affecting in its true-life tale of a gay Afghan refugee’s harrowing journey and emotional endurance. It singles out the bittersweet climax that shatters all but the coldest hearts after a litany of violations and traumas. [Read the review](https://www.thetimes.com/culture/film/article/flee-review-animation-9fvtbkkvb) ## The Independent — Lindsey Bahr Rating 3.5/4. 1 December 2021. The animated documentary tells the harrowing true story of a young Afghan refugee's journey from Kabul through Russia to Denmark in the 1980s. It is praised as one of the best films of the year for its rich, seamless storytelling and emotional impact. [Read the review](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/afghanistan-russia-sweden-denmark-kabul-b1967916.html) ## The i Paper — Christina Newland Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 10 February 2022. This deeply humane animated documentary explores the memories of Amin, a gay Afghan refugee who fled Kabul as a child, as he prepares to marry and confronts his past. It is both horrifying and ultimately hopeful, unmissable for its handling of trauma, identity and belonging. [Read the review](https://inews.co.uk/culture/film/flee-review-movie-afghanistan-unmissable-afghan-refugee-oscar-nominations-jonas-poher-rasmussen-1453387) ## The AV Club — Noel Murray Rating B+. 1 December 2021. The critic finds the film intense and moving, praising how animation elevates the storytelling and vividly brings the subject's memories to life while protecting his anonymity. It notes the story feels special yet occasionally unsatisfying as a real, untidy personal account. [Read the review](https://www.avclub.com/the-animated-flee-paints-a-refugee-s-story-in-vivid-col-1848138968) ## Little White Lies — Ella Kemp Rating 3/4/4. 8 February 2022. The critic finds the animated documentary formally bold and emotionally rich, delivering a moving portrait of a gay Afghan man's escape and search for home. It singles out the warm animation that captures complex feelings of trauma, joy, guilt and hope beyond mere statistics. [Read the review](https://lwlies.com/reviews/flee) ## Radio Times — Alan Jones Rating 4/5. The critic calls the mostly animated documentary remarkable for boldly redefining the form through its mix of hand-drawn animation and archival footage. It singles out the emotional rewards of telling the story of a gay Afghan refugee's escape and ongoing trauma. [Read the review](https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-s4zcse/flee/) ## Time Out — Phil de Semlyen Rating 4/5. 29 January 2021. Festival review. The critic describes the film as a deeply compassionate and strikingly original animated documentary that lays bare the migrant experience with a queer dimension. It singles out the hand-drawn animation recreating traumatic memories and the insight into the psychology of shame and healing. [Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/flee) ## Variety Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 29 January 2021. Festival review. The critic describes the film as an original artistic exploration of trauma's impact on self, using shifting unreliable narration to reflect the subject's hidden truths and intimate act of sharing at its Sundance premiere. [Read the review](https://variety.com/2021/film/reviews/flee-review-1234894626/) ## Slant Magazine — Keith Watson Fi1m's normalised score 65/100 (inferred from the text). 20 September 2021. The review praises the wrenching details of Amin's refugee journey and his self-aware storytelling but criticizes the muted animation for keeping viewers too removed from the man himself and flattening emotional subtleties. [Read the review](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/flee-review-jonas-poher-rasmussen/) ## Collider — Matt Goldberg Rating A. 17 September 2021. Festival review. The critic finds the animated documentary a powerful, haunting, and essential story of an Afghan refugee's experiences, one that humanizes refugees and demands attention for its nuance and emotional depth. Animation is singled out as the ideal medium for conveying the story authentically. [Read the review](https://collider.com/flee-review-animated-documentary/) ## Deadline — Todd McCarthy Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 4 February 2021. Festival review. The review praises the film as a special, harrowing animated documentary that reaffirms animation's power for serious storytelling, much like Waltz with Bashir. It singles out the bold, impressionistic visuals that render the refugee's desperate odyssey with emotional immediacy and resourcefulness. [Read the review](https://deadline.com/2021/02/flee-movie-review-jonas-poher-rasmussen-sundance-1234687973/) ## /Film — Hoai-Tran Bui Rating 9/10. 3 December 2021. The critic praises the film's use of simple, stream-of-consciousness animation to bring Amin's refugee experiences vividly to life in a way more evocative than conventional documentary methods. It highlights the animation's artistic power in rendering both nostalgic and traumatic memories with emotional intimacy and humanity. [Read the review](https://www.slashfilm.com/676657/flee-review-animated-documentary-paints-a-refugee-tale-more-vivid-and-sharp-than-reality/) ## The Playlist — Gregory Ellwood Rating A-. 28 January 2021. Festival review. The critic calls the film a stellar and powerful exploration of refugee trauma and displacement, made exceptionally poignant through its animated storytelling and focus on Amin's experiences as a closeted gay man. It commends the humane, contemporary resonance and the way animation elevates the personal and historical elements. [Read the review](https://theplaylist.net/flee-magnificent-refugee-sundance-review-20210128/) ## The Wrap Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 3 December 2021. Festival review. The review calls it a soul-stirring storytelling knockout and one of the best movies about the refugee crisis, lauding its empathetic animated approach. It singles out the life-affirming arc from sorrow to hope, achieved without cynicism or cheap sentimentality through expressive hand-drawn animation. [Read the review](https://www.thewrap.com/flee-film-review-animation-documentary/) ## The Skinny — Patrick Gamble Rating ★★★★. 8 February 2022. The critic finds it a tender, surprisingly sweet animated documentary on displacement and identity. They single out the animation's ability to express alienation alongside moments of tenderness and humor arising from the subject's trust in the filmmaker. [Read the review](https://www.theskinny.co.uk/film/new-releases/flee) ## Eye for Film — Jeremy Mathews Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 22 October 2021. The critic finds that animating the entire film creates an immersive, cohesive portrait of Amin's trauma and reluctance to share his past as a gay Afghan refugee. It singles out the grounded, realistic animation style for effectively conveying emotional memories and human connections despite some stylistic stiffness. [Read the review](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/flee-2021-film-review-by-jeremy-mathews) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/flee.md