The film strives to be inspirational and sentimental, but it comes up short on both. In the beginning, we find ourselves cheering and rooting for Loh Kiwan, hoping that he can find a better life than the one he’s been living in North Korea and China.

Loh Kiwan emigrates to Belgium with the hope of starting a new life. He has only the money his mother left him as well as whatever money were obtained by selling her corpse. In Belgium, we find that Kiwan has traded one bad situation for another. He has to wait several months before he can apply for asylum. He’s beaten up by thugs, and he has his wallet stolen by Marie, another North Korean defector who has been living in Belgium with her father. Marie is a rather disgusting woman who smokes, does drugs, and finds herself in the clutches of a ruthless underworld Belgian gang. Of course, it’s hard to sympathize with a woman as immature and cowardly as Marie is. After all, she made her world what it is, while Kiwan is trying to change his.

Kiwan finds himself sleeping in public bathrooms or anywhere he can find shelter against the bitter winter cold. After a time, he finally finds himself a job in a slaughterhouse. Once again, a former North Korean defector vows to help him, only to betray him when he needs her help the most. It seems that Kiwan can’t seem to catch a break anywhere. The Belgian government requires proof that he’s a North Korean defector since many Chinese have used that in order to gain residence in the country.

Meanwhile, Marie is an expert marksman with guns, and she’s used by the Belgian gang boss to earn money and help him pay off his debt. Caught up in the world of drugs and violence, Marie doesn’t see anything changing. A typical rebellious daughter, who doesn’t know the truth about her own mother’s death, uses it as an excuse for her pathetic life.

In the end, we wonder just who is saving whom. We initially believe that Marie will help Kiwan, but in the end, it’s pretty much the reverse as Kiwan finally helps Marie escape the horrible underworld, but at the price of leaving the country.

The story is based upon a book written by Marie about Loh Kiwan. I’d be interested in finding out how much of this film is fact or dramatized. The film could have been so much better. While it’s brutal in its honesty, its attempt to be romantic and sentimental fail. Marie is hardly appealing in any way, shape, or form, and the ultimate hero of the story is Kiwan for finding some way to keep on going, even after the beatings, the betrayals, and being in a country where very little ever goes right for him. Kiwan is clearly made of sterner stuff, and he’s a far stronger person than Marie could ever hope to be. Marie is simply petulant and cowardly.

Peformances were very good in this film. It’s just too bad that it wasn’t nearly as inspirational as it could have been. It certainly doesn’t paint a very good picture of Belgium as a country either. Given his limited funds, Kiwan isn’t able to simply leave and go somewhere else until the end when he finally meets Marie in Madagascar, which is where the film ends. Ironically, it’s also the only scene in the film where there is actual sunlight. It’s almost as if the rest of the world is dark, gray, and bleak. Unfortunately, most of this film is that way too. Overall, the film was a disappointment, which is a shame given the story and performances.