Shelter

Anna and her young lover Mara return to from a romantic holiday in Tunisia to discover Anis, a teenage Moroccan boy, has stowed away in their car to cross the border. Ignoring Mara's hostility toward Anis, the spoilt yet good-hearted Anna impulsively decides that the boy should live with them until he is able to care for himself. Anna gives Anis a job in the shoe factory run by her homophobic family, where Mara also works on the assembly line. Their makeshift family is short-lived, and the unstable dynamic of the trio disastrously crumbles as the boy's unrequited crush on Mara upsets the delicate balance of Mara and Anna's relationship.

Exquisitely acted by Maria de Medeiros and Antonia Liskova, Shelter is a well-crafted and disturbing drama about the contemporary social barriers that often stand in the way of love and acceptance.

Kyle Stephan