“There are 11 million child refugees in the world. 1.3 million in Europe. 127,000 in the UK.”

And each one has a name.

In LARGO, we meet just one: Musa, a young Syrian boy living in the UK, who, against all odds and all the impossible rules of the adult world, sets out to build a boat and sail back home in search of his missing parents. Through his tender, determined eyes, directors Salvatore Scarpa and Max Burgoyne-Moore deliver an unfathomably vast story, a film that doesn’t just depict displacement but makes us feel its weight, refracted through the fragile strength of a child’s hope.

This is a film made not from politics, but from heartbreak. What makes LARGO devastating is its insistence on witnessing the inner world children are forced to endure long after they cross borders. For Musa, home is not just a memory; it’s a mission. As we follow him pursuing this impossible dream with handmade sails and heartbreaking innocence, we’re compelled to face a truth that headlines often overlook: children bear the weight of wars they never started.

Visually, LARGO shows how powerful naturalistic storytelling can be. Set against a rugged British coastline, the film frames vast stretches of sea and sky, placing Musa’s fragile journey in nature’s indifferent beauty. Cinematographer Rick Joaquim lets the landscape breathe, allowing sunlight, wind, and tide to somewhat show the boy’s internal world.

This is a man-made crisis. Adults have built a world in which children are bombed, displaced, and broken apart from their families. The sick ambition of a few causes tragedies for millions, from Aleppo to Gaza, from Khartoum to Sanaa. We watch Musa, but we are also watching thousands of other boys and girls, nameless to most, caught in the machinery of conflict and exile.

What Scarpa and Burgoyne-Moore have created in LARGO is a call and a wound. They’ve chosen to tell the story entirely from a child’s perspective. Zack Elsokari’s remarkably sensitive performance as Musa will grab your heart. The same goes for the supporting cast, including Tamsin Greig, Ammar Haj Ahmad, and Kevin McNally. Their presence never overshadows the child at the centre; instead, they orbit him with reverence.

LARGO is a must-watch. The film reminds us that grief often wears a child’s face, that hope can take shape in scraps of wood and sheer will, and that behind every statistic is a child like Musa, waiting to be seen, heard, and embraced.

Let us not look away.

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Written by Maggie Gogler

_{View of the Arts is an online publication dedicated to films, music, and the arts, with a strong focus on the Asian entertainment industry. With rich content already available to our readers, we aim to expand our reach and grow alongside our audience by delving deeper into emerging platforms such as K-pop and Asian music more broadly. At the same time, we remain committed to exploring the vibrant and ever-evolving global landscape of film, music, and the arts, celebrating the immense talent and creativity that define these industries worldwide.}