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Simshar Movie Review

Simshar is a 2014 Maltese drama film directed by Rebecca Cremona and starring Lotfi Abdelli in the main role. It’s such a good, heartbreaking movie.

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“Let’s take care of ourselves“

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Young Theo is sent on his first trip with his Maltese seafaring family, but things go terribly wrong when the Simshar sinks, leaving the crew stranded in the Mediterranean. Simultaneously, Alex, a medic reluctantly dispatched onto a Turkish Merchant vessel which has rescued a group of stranded African boat people between Malta and Italy, gets stuck on the boat as the countries wage a bureaucratic war over who should take in the migrants.

Based on a true story but fictionalized to some extent, the movie isn’t a biopic nor is it a typical historical drama. In fact, it is a drama based on true events that is fictional enough that it led to this very original, potent mixture. The fact that some of this genuinely happened made this heartbreaking movie even more tragic.

Lotfi Abdelli is a Tunisian actor and here he is the absolute highlight in terms of acting and characterization as his character is the focus of the movie. Others are also solidly developed, though a longer running time would have been a better choice in terms of characterization overall.

Where Simshar shines at is in the emotional levity. This is a hugely moving flick that has the power to make you cry and even think. It doesn’t take easy answers in regards to its issues, and although it doesn’t explore the immigration problem all that extensively, it does showcase the tragedy behind it all, thus humanizing it for viewers, which is incredibly important, especially for those who do not know enough about any immigration, let alone this one.

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Simshar isn’t well paced, but the direction from the Maltese director Rebecca Cremona is quite solid. It’s uneven in the quality of its parts as sometimes the movie was less engaging, but those moments that hit really do hit, in particular that incredibly powerful and tragic ending. The movie is also gorgeously shot and its marine setting is so well realized. It was wonderful seeing a Maltese film get on board in terms of festivals and recognition. Hopefully, the country will return to filmmaking sooner rather than later.

Although uneven and short, Simshar is mostly a very dramatic, emotionally powerful tale of immigration that is so well shot, well realized in its setting, strongly performed by its actors and genuinely heartbreaking throughout, especially in its tragic ending.

My Rating – 4