Aisha

Letitia Wright owns this film as Aisha, an immigrant from Nigeria seeking refuge in Ireland. The actress appears in almost every frame and her performance is worthy of an Oscar nomination.

Her father has been killed and she and her mother raped by vicious loan sharks and she is shown navigating the asylum system in Ireland. A security guard at a shelter befriends her and the young woman is moved from place to place as she must attend hearing after hearing, reciting her terrible story to a long line of unsympathetic paper pushers. I am sure that it is pretty much the same here in ther United States.

I hope that Aisha will be Ireland's entry for an Academy Award.

Letitia Wright is the unique selling point of Aisha. She gives a fantastic performance. Watch her body language, the things she doesn't say, it's all in her eyes. It's a beautiful measured performance. Josh O' Connor gives her good support, eventhough his character sometimes feels a bit too goog to be true. There could have been some more fleshing out there. The movie itself is a timely complaint about the insufferable way asylum seekers are treated by the system. Never a break, always a new form to be complied, a interview with friendly if slightly uninterested caseworkers to be taken. It's a dehumanising treatment. The cruelty seems to be the point. Director Frank Berry shows it all in long takes, documentary like hitting his point home.

You've been abused but managed to escape from terror, to a land you hoped would treat people much fairer, but you're stuck inside a scheme, that destroys your self-esteem, you had no choice, but this all feels like a great error. They don't believe that you're at risk if you return, although you feel they do not care of your concern, but with little evidence, you cannot give a great defence, of the murder, rape and torment that still burns.

Letitia Wright is outstanding as the asylum seeker living in limbo, dehumanised by a system that's in place to protect but ultimately treats people like beggars and thieves. With Josh O'Connor providing sympathetic support and empathy, this film makes a good companion piece to The Swimmers which tackles a similar theme but through a different escape.

Great movie to depict the situation in the direct provision centers in Ireland, and the way The asylum seekers applications are brutally refused despite the obvious dangers threatening them in their home country. The romance and connection happening on the side is also so beautiful. It shows the friendship and human connection regardless of race and status which so pure.

I also liked the scenes where it implied asking about someone's nationality is not appropriate since nobody wants to be judged based on their nationality if they come from a poor country.

I hope more and more people in Ireland watch this movie, and it helps to improve the situation of refugees in this country. I enjoyed this movie and totally recommend it.

If cinema is meant to provoke and incite, then Frank Berry's Aisha is a film we should all see. A thoughtful and meditative polemic on Direct Provision, it will anger you and break your heart in equal measure. Directed with the touch of a master painter, allowing us to feel every single moment of Aisha's harrowing plight. Aisha features a searing central performance by Letitia Wright, and wonderful support from Josh O'Connor and Lorcan Cranitch. I can't think of a recent film that left me reeling afterwards to this extent. Maybe I, Daniel Blake. An incredibly powerful film, it should have the same impact, shining a light on a social justice fiasco.