TIFF23 REVIEW: Skąd dokąd [In the Rearview]

Rating: NR | Runtime: 84 minutes
Release Date: November 24th, 2023 (Poland) / August 16th, 2024 (USA)
Studio: New Story / Film Movement
Director(s): Maciek Hamela
Writer(s): Maciek Hamela

We’ll come back here when the war’s over. Yes, Mom?

Polish filmmaker Maciek Hamela continues his personal fight against Russian oppression by purchasing vans and volunteering to drive Ukrainian refugees out of the nation’s war zones and over the border into Poland. Fifteen million Ukrainians have fled their homeland during the ongoing Russian invasion—one third of the country’s entire population. And while the families shown riding in Hamela’s backseat are just a small fraction of that total, their stories and experiences are not. Some survived bombings. Some had guns pointed at their heads. Some have been electrocuted, extorted for money, and left with no option but to leave family behind.

One thing that doesn’t get shown often, however, are tears. These people have suffered so much that they have become numb to that suffering. And not just the adults relating tales of death and destruction, but children too. The number of thousand-yard stares supplied by kids as young as four years old attempting to process what is happening will get some tears welling up in your own eyes, though. Because beyond all the property damage (and we get a front row seat to charred buildings and blown out cars as Hamela drives through checkpoints and landmines) and loss of life, the psychological impact on the next generation of Ukrainians has yet to be fully measured.

The journey is an impactful one even if ninety-five percent of the film is shot from the passenger seat of Hamela’s van. The lingering shots on faces and reactions give these refugees the space to exist as human beings rather than mere subjects. Because they aren’t quite safe yet. Between phone calls from associates updating Hamela on which roads are occupied by Russians and which have been secured and the first-hand discovery of blockages and missing roads, you never know when something bad might happen along the way. Thankfully, nothing does—but they don’t know it. They must prepare themselves for the fact that a potential flat tire could end everything.

In the Rearview is a crucial document of what has resulted from Putin’s unprovoked war. It’s a means to have the carnage and emotional duress put on-the-record for those who still choose to turn a blind eye. These are innocent civilians being tortured, raped, and murdered. They’re being terrorized and shot with impunity as one Congolese immigrant shares in harrowing detail. They’re being forced to fight for the wrong side (a story about a crying boy being handed a Russian uniform and gun gives life to Putin’s nightmarish goal). And yet, despite it all, they hope to one day return. Because they haven’t given up. They’re simply living to fight another day.