Written by Andreas Babiolakis

Here in North America, North Korea has been the butt of many jokes, from parodies to befuddlement (how could people believe that Kim Jon-Il had eleven holes-in-one during the first golf game of his life??), but deep down everyone has known that the country’s fascist dictatorship is monstrous. Even so, I bet many are curious about just how disturbing the situation is over there when they are closed off from the rest of the world (and vice versa: we don’t hear much of what really goes on there). Enter Beyond Utopia: Madeleine Gavin’s horrifying documentary that accounts for the testimonies and footage of North Korean citizens who hope to successfully flee the country from its stranglehold. There are actually three sides to this documentary. Firstly, we get insider information on some of the atrocities that take place in North Korea, some being obvious (naysaying leads to citizens being held in the gulag) and some not so much (the use of concentration camps on a nation’s own people, or what North Koreans have to do with their own exrament… yes, you read that correctly). Surveillance footage is used to back up — as best as possible — these confessions from a handful of people who have had enough.

The second side to Beyond Utopia is perhaps its crux: Pastor Kim Sungeun's quest to help North Korean defectors safely leave the country and reside in South Korea (or whatever other place they choose). He’s a prominent figure in Beyond Utopia, and he effortlessly relays enough of his operations (without the possibility of him being traced, of course) so we know the lengths necessary to protect people from their own government and the corrosion of tyranny. Then comes the final side of this story: the present angle. The same people who made it out and are recounting their years in North Korea are now evaluating their current lives. That’s when Beyond Utopia really drives its point home with the disparity between North Korea and, well, most places on Earth. Again, the biggest factor is Pastor Sunguen’s role in all of this, because there would be no Point B without the bridge from Point A. Beyond Utopia hops between its three elements so it doesn’t function strictly linearly, but, rather, as a series of haunting memories in the present and the stabilizing to get refocused on the mission to get out in one piece (even though these subjects have gotten out, the looming trauma of having to escape is presented here as ghosts that forever chase them, even in their newly found protection).

*Beyond Utopia* goes so much farther than the common knowledge of North Korea’s treatment of its own people, making its claim that this *has* to be seen in order to fully understand how treacherous living there is.

Enough documentaries treat their subjects like entry-level essays meant for the uninformed. Gavin and Beyond Utopia are aware that most people know that North Korea has a dictatorship that oppresses its own people, and it vows to go further with its footage and interviews. Thus, Beyond Utopia makes a point for its existence: to get as full of a picture of the situation in North Korea as possible. That would have made this a good documentary. Keep in mind that Beyond Utopia is a great documentary. It is well shot and assembled, all things considered (really think about what had to take place for this film to be made; it’ll make you appreciate its existence). It is formatted in a way that it gets the political history and technicalities out of the way early on so the resilience within the documentary shines later on. While we focus on the freedom and relief of some, the film reiterates the strenuous, torturous routines in North Korea, reminding you of the many things they are running away from (and trying to shield their children from). One last final thing Beyond Utopia confronts is the possibility of deceptive memories: recollections of things that didn’t happen quite as one depicts. These are reminders of the permanent results of dishonest and abusive governments, and it’s sad to see that even when people are saved from these environments that they’ll have this to worry about.

The way everything is laid out makes Beyond Utopia so thrilling to watch. Many documentaries have worthy purposes and great footage, but they don’t know how to keep you invested in tough topics for long periods of time. Beyond Utopia does not have such a problem. It wins you over instantly and keeps you invested throughout its runtime. What you learn about North Korea gets arguably more and more disturbing as the film proceeds (or, at least, some of the more unexpected punishments and revelations are saved for later), including the supposed connection between the dictatorship and God (I couldn’t laugh any harder than I did when this moment arrived because of its sheer delusion). The mission to escape gets all the more nerve-wracking as you begin to face the extremities of the migration. You will for their new lives to begin more and more as Beyond Utopia progresses. All and all, this is a chilling and riveting documentary: one that not only reinforces the awful politics elsewhere in the world but also reminds you that you are more fortunate than many more often than not. PBS broadcast Beyond Utopia as a part of its Independent Lens series, and thus there was free access for most North Americans to watch this film and learn from it. That alone speaks volumes. Beyond Utopia isn’t a documentary to miss, and its win for the U.S. Documentary award at Sundance (which Academy Award winners Summer of Soul and Navalny also picked up) represents a strong awards season ahead for this incredible film.

I’ve also come to realize that Films Fatale most likely will never be visible in North Korea again after this review, so there’s that.

Andreas Babiolakis has a Masters degree in Film and Photography Preservation and Collections Management from Toronto Metropolitan University, as well as a Bachelors degree in Cinema Studies from York University. His favourite times of year are the Criterion Collection flash sales and the annual Toronto International Film Festival.