The Guest review – the risks of protecting refugees in the Poland-Belarus danger zone

Zvika Gregory Portnoy and Zuzanna Solakiewicz’s documentary lays bare the problems faced by refugees and the compassion of good samaritans

It all begins with a knock. In a small Polish town on the border with Belarus , Maciek and his family have taken in 27-year-old Alhyder, a Syrian refugee seeking shelter from the freezing weather and police patrols. Since 2021, the area has become increasingly militarised after Vladimir Putin and Alexander Lukashenko, in a purely political move, offered up the Belarussian border as a new migration route into the EU. In response, the Polish government created a 3-km zone where refugees and migrants are seized and deported back to Belarus. With humanitarian organisations also banned from the area, asylum seekers are now pawns in a political war game, with their lives continuously in danger.

Laying bare the risks faced by both Maciek and Alhyder, Zvika Gregory Portnoy and Zuzanna Solakiewicz’s documentary intimately trails its subjects. Most of their conversations unfold in tense closeups, as Alhyder struggles to contact his group of fellow refugees; his host meanwhile keeps watch for the constant military presence in the neighbourhood. The film expands to take in other forms of resistance, such as a network of good samaritans who provide food, warm clothes and translation services for those hiding out in the forests. These acts of compassion shine a heartwarming light against the darkness of a humanitarian crisis.

Though illuminating as a profile of courage, the documentary is hampered by some ethical missteps. One scene shows the body of a refugee who has died, possibly due to hypothermia; while the faces of those around him are blurred, his is still visible on screen, which begs the question of consent in regard to the filming of marginalised figures. Meanwhile, the film displays limited interest in Alhyder’s background and personal life beyond his immediate situation. In framing refugees solely as victims, The Guest leaves little room for viewers to see these displaced figures as genuine human beings.