Limbo (2021)
76%RT Audience Score: 56%
Awards & Nominations: 14 wins & 19 nominations total
A profoundly uplifting portrait of the refugee experience, Limbo is distinguished by its offbeat tone — and overall impressive work from debuting director Ben Sharrock.
Limbo is a film that will make you laugh and cry at the same time. It’s like a rollercoaster ride of emotions that you won’t forget anytime soon. The humor is subtle, but it’s there, and it’s what makes the movie so relatable. The performances are top-notch, and the cinematography is breathtaking. If you’re looking for a movie that will make you think and feel, Limbo is the one for you. Just make sure you have some tissues handy!
Production Company(ies)
Distributor
Focus Features
Release Type
Theatrical, Theatrical (Limited)
Filming Location(s)
North Uist, Western Isles, Scotland, UK
MPAA / Certificate
Rated R for language
Year of Release
2021
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Dolby
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Aspect ratio:NA
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Runtime:1h 43m
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Language(s):English, Arabic
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Country of origin:United Kingdom
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Apr 30, 2021 Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Jun 29, 2021
Genre(s)
Comedy/Drama
Keyword(s)
Limbo, R-rated, Comedy/Drama, 1h 43m, directed by Ben Sharrock, written by Ben Sharrock, produced by Irune Gurtubai and Angus Lamont, starring Amir El-Masry, Vikash Bhai, Ola Orebiyi, Kwabena Ansah, Sidse Babett Knudsen, Kais Nashif, refugee experience, BAFTA nominated, Syrian civil war, NGO, asylum claims, Scottish island, grandfather’s oud, comedy, drama, poignant, wry, offbeat tone, uplifting, critic reviews, Fresh Kernels, box office performance, budget, MPAA rating, actor names, director names, writer names, producer names
Worldwide gross: $930,097
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $1,011,580
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,597
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 110,314
US/Canada gross: $224,405
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $244,064
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,506
US/Canada opening weekend: $84,710
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $92,131
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,961
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): NA
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): NA
Production budget ranking: NA
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
ROI to date (est.): NA
ROI ranking: NA
Vikash Bhai – Farhad
Ola Orebiyi – Wasef
Kwabena Ansah – Abedi
Sidse Babett Knudsen – Helga
Kais Nashif – Nabil
Ben Sharrock – Director/Writer
Irune Gurtubai – Producer
Angus Lamont – Producer
Director(s)
Ben Sharrock
Writer(s)
Ben Sharrock
Producer(s)
Irune Gurtubai, Angus Lamont
Film Festivals
Cannes, Toronto
Awards & Nominations
14 wins & 19 nominations total
Academy Awards
All Critics (122) | Top Critics (34) | Fresh (113) | Rotten (9)
Look beyond your limited worldview, Limbo says, and see the bigger, more beautiful, and more complicated picture.
November 2, 2021
Rebecca Harrison
Sight & Sound
TOP CRITIC
For a film that is so infused with sadness… Limbo is remarkably funny – a gentle, empathic kind of humour that is derived from the men’s bleak existences, without mocking them.
July 31, 2021 | Rating: 5/5
Wendy Ide
Observer (UK)
TOP CRITIC
A wonderful comedy that savours its remote environment while keeping its subjects at the centre of the story.
July 30, 2021 | Rating: 5/5
Donald Clarke
Irish Times
TOP CRITIC
Sharrock has adopted a Keatonesque deadpan aesthetic that feels arrived at via a few different places.
July 29, 2021 | Rating: 4/5
Tim Robey
Daily Telegraph (UK)
TOP CRITIC
A film as sweet as it is sad, as pertinent as it is absurd, Limbo is an experience where not much seems to happen but where little things mean the world.
July 28, 2021 | Rating: 4/5
Alex Godfrey
Empire Magazine
TOP CRITIC
Desperate, but also wryly comic, as if writer-director Ben Sharrock sees them as stuck in a real-life Waiting For Godot, stranded in a starkly beautiful no-man’s-land, hoping against hope that it will prove more hospitable than the ones they left behind.
May 14, 2021
Bob Mondello
NPR
TOP CRITIC
In a movie that’s witty and perceptive, affectionate and poignant, and unwavering and clear-eyed, the tonal seesaw that Sharrock rides and perfects is just that: perfection.
June 25, 2022
Sarah Ward
Concrete Playground
The feature is simultaneously a tremendously fun experience while also being harrowing and haunting in the best of ways. Relevant and important, Limbo demands to be seen and is absolutely worth seeking out!
February 15, 2022 | Rating: A
Carson Timar
ButteredPopcorn
Elegant simplicity itself, where droll deadpan humour, terrific performances and a humanistic vision combine to deliver a powerful refugee drama that is one of the best
January 21, 2022 | Rating: 5/5
Jane Freebury
Jane Freebury
While Limbo is well-made, well-written and well-acted, it won’t appeal to everyone, as it is slow-paced and deadpan. I thought it was great.
August 6, 2021 | Rating: 4/5
Aine O’Connor
Sunday Independent (Ireland)
Throughout it all, the British Egyptian El-Masry is a marvel, never once overplaying his hand or italicising the role for effect.
August 2, 2021 | Rating: 4/5
Matt Wolf
The Arts Desk
Sharrock touches upon a fundamental aspect of the Middle Eastern relationship to Europe and the West: the emotional agony of the wait; the realisation that one’s destiny is not in one’s hands.
July 31, 2021
Joseph Fahim
Middle East Eye…
Plot
Limbo is a wry and poignant observation of the refugee experience, set on a fictional remote Scottish island where a group of new arrivals await the results of their asylum claims. It centers on Omar (Amir El-Masry), a young Syrian musician who is burdened by his grandfather’s oud, the king of Arabic music instruments, which he has carried all the way from his homeland.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
There is no goofy or funny or odd comment about the film in the Fresh Kernels summary.
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