Parents' Guide to A Long Way to Come Home

A Long Way to Come Home is an unmitigated mess. From the moment it begins, it feels as if we have missed something, as if the filmmakers shot a bunch of scenes and then assembled them in random order, making no sense whatever. The narrative doesn't track, the story jumps from one scene, indicating the plot is moving in one direction, to another, where suddenly the world is completely different and no explanation has been offered. Aurora seems to move out of her friends' home to return to the abusive boyfriend. But the next scene she is back living with the friends. What happened? Perhaps she changed her mind, but where is the scene showing us why? The brother and sister visiting from Indonesia completely disappear from the plot. And when they reappear, it seems as if no time has passed, yet during their absence, Aurora has applied for and received a scholarship, which must have taken months to process. Were they sitting in a London hotel room all that time wondering what to do about Aurora? It sure looks that way.

The filmmakers seem to have no sense of dramatic emphasis and no recognition that some scenes and events are more important than others. Many scenes are accompanied by swelling, manipulatively emotional music even though nothing dramatic is happening visually. Multiple scenes with dialogue have no sound. What are the characters saying to each other? Why can't we know? It often feels like huge chunks of vital information are missing. The ineptitude of the direction and writing is breathtaking. Only an extremely likable and competent cast slightly redeems this indecipherable jumble of heartfelt but ultimately unruly narrative.