This documentary, assembled from footage captured with mobile phones and other covert methods, recounts the experiences of individuals attempting to escape the poverty and repression that define life in North Korea. The story largely centers on a single family’s dangerous journey, requiring them to cross the Yalu River into China with the help of guides and intermediaries, then onward through Vietnam, Laos, and ultimately, hopefully, across the Mekong River into Thailand. Throughout their ordeal, we also encounter others sharing equally distressing accounts from a country where malnutrition is widespread, potable water is lacking, and citizens are even required to surrender their own waste for government use as fertilizer. Failure to regularly clean the mandatory portraits of the “Dear Leader” can result in severe punishment. The film depicts such extreme conditions that it could easily be mistaken for a work of fiction—though I suspect no author could invent something so unbelievable! It offers a powerful illustration of the travelers’ determination and strength, both young and old, as they confront their fears and navigate treacherous terrain to secure their freedom. What's evident is that this is far from an easy undertaking; it appears many more fail than succeed—and those who do are often deeply disturbed by the misleading information disseminated to the outside world by their former leaders. The raw quality of the visuals, combined with a straightforward storytelling approach, proves effective, and I found myself genuinely concerned for the well-being and future of these fundamentally good people, simply “born in the wrong country.”

Source on TMDB