Sergei and Alina, both teachers, have fled persecution in Russia with their two daughters to Sweden, where they have applied for asylum. They do their best to fit in: the parents work hard, the children throw themselves into their Swedish school lives and the family welcomes regular inspections, proving what excellent Swedish citizens they would be. It is a shock when their application is rejected, after which the younger daughter Katja collapses into a coma caused by Child Resignation Syndrome, a well-documented phenomenon among refugee children. The callousness of the authorities and its institutions, which seem designed to strip everyone of humanity and hope, is chilling, only just trumped by the film’s core values of justice and resilient love.