By Teagan Warren
“We are not leaving North Korea because we want to…we are leaving in order to stay alive,” says one member of the Roh family, the protagonists escaping North Korea in “Beyond Utopia.”
One might suspect the escape would involve going across the South Korean border. However, due to the dense volume of landmines across the border along with intense surveillance, crossing there is virtually impossible. Instead, the Roh family crosses into China then journeys through Vietnam and Laos, having to reach Thailand to be safe from the North Korean regime sympathizers.
Cedarville University’s first foreign film of the semester is a documentary that opens with Seung-eun Kim working with Caleb Mission. His heart began to ache for the North Koreans shortly after becoming a pastor and visiting the border of China and North Korea. Seung-eun decides to make his life mission to help the North Koreans escape, by physically sharing the journey with them despite the health issues and injuries he acquires.
After a brief opening, the documentary shows Pastor Kim receiving a call about a family of five trying to escape from North Korea. Pastor Kim flies to China to accompany them on the journey to Thailand. They must rely on guidance from brokers, a miscreant bunch who view the escapees as objects rather than people.
This escape story becomes the main drive of the film, but the other story tied into the film is that of a North Korean mother named Soyeon Lee who has no immediate family living with her. She tries to get her son to escape and join her in Seoul, South Korea.
The filming contained a lot of camera shake, but considering the film uses mostly body camera footage to capture moments most viewers could only imagine, this is more than excusable. Besides clips featuring Soyeon Lee, the Roh family and Pastor Kim, other clips featured North Korean broadcasts, scenic shots of the cities and talks with defectors and advocates for the North Korean people.
Unlike many documentaries, “Beyond Utopia” lacks a narrator. The Roh family and Soyeon Lee show their stories rather than tell them. Any other details or history provided comes from commentary from other individuals like Hyeonseo Lee (author of “The Girl with Seven Names”) and Sokeel Park (an activist through the organization Liberty in North Korea).
The film did a great job of making clear where the stories take place. Footage takes place in at least six different countries, but I never found it confusing to know where the characters were during any given time.
Despite the film being rated PG-13, the topics are disturbing enough where many would pass on watching. Unclear clips of corpses and people being killed are shown. Descriptions of torture are also uncomfortable to listen to. Beyond this, seeing the raw anguish and grief of the characters also causes one’s stomach to knot up.
Walking through the story of a family and a woman for nearly two hours touched on the pain these defectors go through in a manner different from reading about the stories. There are so many aspects of history to North Korea, and although these are only briefly touched on in the film, it works because the film focuses on the personal experiences of escape.
“Beyond Utopia” was released in 2023. At the beginning of the film and near the end, COVID-19 is touched on and its impact on North Korean refugees. During this time, North Korea cut down on people leaving the country and now even fewer escape.
Although reading about world situations, like that of the North Korean regime, can make people feel helpless, Dr. Kim (who led the talkback) provided us with an encouraging update from Pastor Kim via the Caleb Mission. He reported that three North Korean women had safely made it to South Korea.
During the talk back, Dr. Kim encouraged the audience that although it feels like not much can be done from the opposite side of the planet, watching this film is “one small but meaningful step.”
“Beyond Utopia” is available for rent on Apple TV and Prime Video.
Teagan Warren is a senior psychology major who likes jumpsuits.
Images courtesy of 19340 Productions, Human Rights Foundation, and Random Good Foundation.
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