Beyond Utopia

"See a place few have ever seen."

2023 1h 56m EN

🙌

7.7

BANGER

★7.7TMDB · 70

DocumentaryHistory

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

A courageous pastor uses his underground network to rescue and aid North Korean families as they risk their lives to embrace freedom.

“See a place few have ever seen.”

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Where to watch · US

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Cast

Barbara Demick
Self
Kim Sung-eun
Self
Lee Hyeon-seo
Self
Lee So-yeon
Self
Kim Jong-un
Self (archive footage)
Kim Jong-il
Self (archive footage)
Kim Il-sung
Self (archive footage)
Kim Jong-nam
Self (archive footage)

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Madeleine Gavin
Writers: Madeleine Gavin
Languages: English, Korean
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 3 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, Korean.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Madeleine Gavin, shot by Kim Hyun-seok. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Adam Taylor. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Madeleine Gavin shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Barbara Demick and Kim Sung-eun and Lee Hyeon-seo carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "See a place few have ever seen.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt25470468 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Madeleine Gavin directs. Kim Hyun-seok behind the camera. Adam Taylor scores. Madeleine Gavin cuts. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English, Korean.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Released 3 years ago.
2Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, Korean.
3Directed by Madeleine Gavin, shot by Kim Hyun-seok. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Original score by Adam Taylor. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
5Editor Madeleine Gavin shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6Barbara Demick and Kim Sung-eun and Lee Hyeon-seo carry the top of the cast.
7Marketing tagline: "See a place few have ever seen.".
8IMDB entry: tt25470468 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
9Only 70 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.
10Classified under 8 themes, including "refugee", "pastor", "based on true story", "geopolitics".

The technical file

Cinematography: Kim Hyun-seok
Original score: Adam Taylor
Editing: Madeleine Gavin
Sound: Tony Volante
Runtime: 116 min · 1h 56m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Box office: $6,800
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG-13
IMDB: Beyond Utopia (2023)

Also by

Madeleine Gavin

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Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2024-01-05
★ 7/10
Ably stitched together using hand-held, mobile phone and other discreetly shot footage, this documentary tells of people desperate to flee the poverty and oppression they face living in North Korea. It principally follows one particular family who must travel, at great peril to themselves, their guides and "brokers" across the Yalu river into China before continuing through Vietnam, Laos and hopefully across the Mekong into the safety of Thailand. Along the way, though, we are also introduced to other people with equally horrendous stories to tell of family stuck in a nation where malnutrition is rife, clean water is scarce and you are even expected to provide your own poo to the government for use as fertiliser! You must regularly dust your obligatorily hung photos of the "Dear Leader" else you're in for a severe beating... Indeed, for much of this film of all that's dystopian about life there, you could be forgiven for thinking it was all a figment in the mind of some fiction writer - except, I doubt they could make it up! There's a strong testament to the perseverance and resilience of the travellers - young and old - as they struggle with the fear and the jungle to make good their escape. What we see here is that, clearly, this is no walk in the park and it seems to me that many more don't make it than do - and that those who did were shocked by the false messages being conveyed to the outside world by their erstwhile leaders. The intimate nature of the photography and the simple evocative narrative work well here, too, and by midway through I genuinely felt invested in the survival and prosperity of these fundamentally decent people who were just "born in the wrong country"
Brent Marchant2024-01-25
★ 8/10
In today’s world, it’s almost unfathomable that there are places that exist on this planet that operate on the principles of unbridled cruelty, deliberate deception and mass brainwashing, with even the slightest of infractions capable of leading to banishment to remote gulags, brutal beatings and even savage public executions. However, such are the conditions of everyday life in North Korea, a paranoid, ruthless regime that doesn’t hesitate to inflict such indignities on its population and deprive residents of knowledge of anything beyond its borders. In a United Nations human rights report, the unthinkable tactics employed here have been described as being on par with those that were used in Nazi Germany. So it’s no wonder there are many who want to escape this harsh reality – that is, at least among those who are able to see beyond the artifice of the false utopian picture that officials have painted of their sorrowful nation. Getting out is far from easy, however, a harrowing venture that often requires defectors to flee northward to China and then maneuver through the challenging terrain of several neighboring Asian countries rather than simply crossing into nearby democratic South Korea, a sanctuary walled off by a de facto combat zone boobytrapped with countless land mines. Seeing what refugees must endure is the aim of documentarian Madeleine Gavin’s latest offering, a compilation of defector stories, including those who have succeeded in escaping and those attempting to do so. The latter are compellingly filmed with firsthand, on-the-ground footage, with no reenactments, showing in detail the ordeals they must go through to make their flights to freedom, sometimes successful, sometimes not. In the process, the film also provides audiences with a concise yet comprehensive history of how North Korea reached this point while revealing some little-known troubling secrets about everyday life in this mysterious land, many of which most outsiders have probably never heard of, let alone seen. Because of this, some of the picture’s imagery may be considered quite disturbing, especially for sensitive viewers, so those who are easily upset by such troubling visuals should take note. Nevertheless, this BAFTA Award-nominated release is an important piece of filmmaking that those outside this inscrutable enclave should know about – and hope that the world can help to overcome.