Emily Weedon

An eerie, fascinating, thought provoking and at times frustrating look inside the DKPR. Palin is effortlessly likeable - although I cringe watching him do a lot of finishing other people's sentences and waving hands a lot - just like I have personally done when traveling through different cultures. (Is finishing other people's sentences a WASP thing !?) There is a sense of a very carefully trotted out series of experiences here and viewing it I get a sense of the orchestration the shooting crew must have had to work around and with. And there is a sense of a model toy kingdom curated by it's secretive leader to project something positive. I also got a sense of pride "Look at us!" coupled with "Don't look too closely!" If they are serious about moving towards offering international tourism, the journey will be bumpy. The question of food insecurity immediately followed by Palin being offered an abundance of food cooked by his hosts "own hands" is a 'hmm' moment. As is the early and vigorous statement of a tour guide declaiming that they are very much not brainwashed. (Of course, neither are we in the west - right?) An image that stuck with me was an old man dancing with manufactured and sanctioned joy at a state holiday. I think it was captured to show - "these people dance and love and celebrate as we do!" but the image lingers and leaves a disturbing feeling. Great film-making from a trusted traveler and agent of good-will.

Plodding story ground out by paper thin characters, hero’s journey diluted by too many secondary characters. Notable for a fiendishly satisfying scene which serves comeuppance to a serial sex offender.