Review of Fremont

"Fremont" is a modest but entertaining displaced person story. Its protagonist, Donya, is a young Afghan woman who fled the country and now works at a fortune cookie factory in San Francisco's Chinatown. She deals with the loneliness and the guilt she feels from abandoning her family, which is exacerbated by some fellow Afghan expats in her community who think of her as a traitor. The movie puts a human face on the plight of refugees everywhere. As she says at one point when asked by her psychiatrist if America is all she dreamed it would be, she didn't really imagine what America would be like because the goal wasn't America specifically -- it was just anywhere that wasn't where she was. I don't think most of us can truly understand what that would feel like.

The movie goes for a very dry, dead pan comedy vibe that I don't think always works. It's one of those movies where characters will just stare awkwardly at each other for several minutes without saying anything. The slow pace might test the patience of some. But I mostly enjoyed it. Anaita Wali Zada gives a good performance as the main protagonist, but I wish the film had given her more to do. Just as her character arc truly begins, the movie ends. I also enjoyed the performances of Gregg Turkington, who plays her doctor and helps her see the parallels between her own life and "White Fang," and Jeremy Allen White, who pops up late in the film as a mechanic and leaves the audience assuming that Donya may not be lonely for much longer.

Grade: A-