WELCOME
There’s not much of a welcome for Bilal, a 17-year-old Iraqi Kurdish refugee trying to reach London to save his girlfriend from an arranged marriage.
His three-month, cross-Europe journey ends when cops in Calais, on the French side of the English Channel, stop him. They don’t force him back to war-torn Iraq, but won’t let him continue on to England.
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His only choice now is to swim the Channel. So he enrolls in swimming classes given by Simon, a middle-aged former Olympic star who’s in the dumps because his wife has left him for another guy.
Thus begins an unlikely friendship between Simon and Bilal.
“Welcome,” directed by Philippe Lioret and a hit in France, has its share of clichés and contrivances. Fortunately, compensation is provided by strong performances by veteran actor Vincent Lindon as the coach and newcomer Firat Ayverdi as the refugee.
Besides, can you think of a more timely subject than illegal immigration?