Green Border

Play trailer

1:48

Green Border

2024

2h 27m

Drama

Play Trailer

Watchlist

Watchlist

Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

94%

Tomatometer

94 Reviews

75%

Popcornmeter

50+ Ratings

In the treacherous and swampy forests that make up the so-called "green border" between Belarus and Poland, refugees from the Middle East and Africa trying to reach the European Union are trapped in a geopolitical crisis cynically engineered by Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko. In an attempt to provoke Europe, refugees are lured to the border by propaganda promising easy passage to the EU. Finding themselves pawns in this hidden war, the lives of Julia, a newly minted activist who has given up her comfortable life, Jan, a young border guard, and a Syrian family intertwine. Thirty years after her Oscar-nominated film Europa Europa, Agnieszka Holland's poignant and essential Green Border opens our eyes and speaks to the heart, challenging viewers to reflect on the moral choices that fall to ordinary people every day.

Critics Consensus

With unyielding clarity, Green Border renders a compassionate portrait of the unmerciful landscape that flanks the Polish-Belarusian border.

Read Critics Reviews

Philip Concannon

Sight & Sound

Dec 22

Shot in stark black and white, Agnieszka Holland’s compassionate film about the dehumanising treatment of refugees on the Belarus-Poland border interrogates the European response to the migrant crisis in all its complexity and injustice.

Go to Full Review

J. Hoberman

The New York Review of Books

01/15/2025

Similarly devoid of nuance, its moral reckoning accentuated by brilliant black-and-white cinematography, Green Border is a visceral ordeal and virtuoso tumult.

Go to Full Review

Alexandra Heller-Nicholas

AWFJ.org

08/26/2024

Green Border is not an easy watch, but it is an indescribably important one, and one of Holland’s most humane and compassionate works yet.

Go to Full Review

Cameron Ritter

Geek Vibes Nation

Jul 20

9/10

Green Border is as urgent a picture as you’ll ever see.

Go to Full Review

Giuseppe Sedia

Kino Mania

01/21/2025

5/5

Holland manages at the same time to pay tribute to the recent efforts of Polish population, border guards included, aimed at helping the Ukrainians since February 2022, as well as to denounce Poland’s and EU’s double standards for refugees

Go to Full Review

Jared Mobarak

Hey, Have You Seen ...?

01/10/2025

8/10

You can't blame Holland for going for the jugular either as far as making that tragedy as horrific as possible since reality spares no one. At two-and-a-half hours, the script never lulls.

Go to Full Review

Read all reviews

Tom F

@RT55173143 Jan 3

Yep, being a refugee is terrible. Especially when an autocrat is exploiting them for political gain.

See more

Daniel B

@observor May 18

What a waste of (a lot) of time. There is no story. Refugees have tough time at border, polish government doesn't help, nice poles do, The End. And black and white to boot. Snooze fest.

See more

Lee R

@RT57394761 01/28/2025

Illegal aliens need to stay in their own country. If it is not to their liking then they need to work with others like themselves to reform it and not just run to another country.

See more

Alec B

@Alec97 01/24/2025

Yes there is certainly a lot of bad faith criticism directed at this movie but it does still narratively stack the deck in favor of it's viewpoint. This I think could have been avoided by narrowing the focus of the narrative. The film's early scenes work well for this reason as they effectively show the horror of human beings being used as pawns in larger political schemes.

See more

Roman P

@RT77175637 01/02/2025

I felt like I was there during the escape, my empathy was touched. It's terrible to see how people can be treated. But I have to ask myself if some scenes are underplayed or exaggerated. The drama shows the suffering and stress of the refugees and the struggle of the institutions around them. Ultimately, it applies a moral compass to a very sensitive international issue and raises the question of whether there should be a different approach of dealing with it.

See more

Sarah S

@RT93437054 11/07/2024

Thank you for making this film and telling the story of the Green Border. So important to understand what happens when walls are built and people are dehumanized.

See more

Read all reviews

Read More

Read Less

WRITE A REVIEW

EDIT REVIEW

POST RATING

Agnieszka Holland

Director

Jalal Altawil

Bashir

Maja Ostaszewska

Julia

Behi Djanati Ataï

Leïla

Maciej Stuhr

Bogdan

Tomasz Włosok

Jan

Io Capitano

96%

87%

Io Capitano

Watchlist

TRAILER

for Io Capitano

Minari

98%

92%

Minari

Watchlist

TRAILER

for Minari

Nomadland

93%

82%

Nomadland

Watchlist

TRAILER

for Nomadland

The Big Bend

100%

94%

The Big Bend

Watchlist

TRAILER

for The Big Bend

Jacir

100%

100%

Jacir

Watchlist

TRAILER

for Jacir

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

Green Border: Trailer 1

1:48

View more videos

View more photos

Synopsis

In the treacherous and swampy forests that make up the so-called "green border" between Belarus and Poland, refugees from the Middle East and Africa trying to reach the European Union are trapped in a geopolitical crisis cynically engineered by Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko. In an attempt to provoke Europe, refugees are lured to the border by propaganda promising easy passage to the EU. Finding themselves pawns in this hidden war, the lives of Julia, a newly minted activist who has given up her comfortable life, Jan, a young border guard, and a Syrian family intertwine. Thirty years after her Oscar-nominated film Europa Europa, Agnieszka Holland's poignant and essential Green Border opens our eyes and speaks to the heart, challenging viewers to reflect on the moral choices that fall to ordinary people every day.

Director: Agnieszka Holland
Producer: Marcin Wierzchosławski
Screenwriter: Maciej Pisuk, Agnieszka Holland, Gabriela Lazarkiewicz
Distributor: Kino Lorber
Production Co: Blick Productions, Metro Films, Beluga Tree, Astute Films
Genre: Drama
Original Language: Polish
Release Date (Theaters): Jun 21, 2024, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Aug 20, 2024
Box Office (Gross USA): $94.1K
Runtime: 2h 27m

Most Popular at Home Now