DEPORTATIONS SHOWN AS UNJUST

LAZY WATERS OF BAYOU CREATE ATMOSPHERE

By PETER THOMAS BUSCH

Take the children in, let them grow and then throw them out again.

Justin Chon produces, directs and stars in this chilling tale about government policy toward international adoptions in the land of the free.

Blue Bayou (2021) costars Alicia Vikander as the wife of a Korean American who was adopted by American parents in the Louisiana Bayou. 

The Leblancs seem to be an ordinary struggling, young blended family in the deep south. Kathy has a young daughter, Jessie, from a previous relationship, while holding down a steady job that supports the family, including her husband, Antonio. 

But while Antonio accepts Jessie as his own child, he struggles to earn a living with few employable skills. 

The director, Chon, uses the colours of the sky and the pace of life in the bayou to drive this film about having to make tough choices when there is already a checkered past that cannot be erased.

Vikander puts on a quiet demure, southern drawl and a nurturing motherly demeanor for the role. Chon casts Vikander well in the supporting role even though the star of The Glorias (2020) Tomb Raider (2018) and Jason Bourne (2016) normally shines in more of a driven leading role.

Chon directs with a bit of a minimalist style that ignores the aesthetics of independent film making. The director focuses instead on the realistic telling of the story about children adopted from overseas by American parents.

The simplicity of the narrative and the director’s lens underscore the injustice of the policy of deporting adults who were brought to the United States as international adoptions.

Antonio seems genuinely concerned about supporting his family when Kathy becomes pregnant with their second child.

But everything falls sideways when the local police discover that Antonio is a person without citizenship.

Kathy initially becomes disassociated from her husband after he makes a series of bad choices that just make matters worse. Vikander’s portrayal of an otherwise understanding character with a forgiving laid back demeanor becomes polarized when Antonio faces deportation and cannot pay for the legal fees.

Vikander shows how Kathy initially betrays her love for Antonio because of the animosity toward him that is brought into the home by her mother. 

But the sudden shock of the real life predicament of deportation gradually eases off to the side as the deep love the characters feel for each other ultimately prevails.

Sydney Kowalske does a god job as the young daughter whose love for her parents gets twisted about a bit by the complicated event and the impromptu reappearance of her biological father.

There is not too much else to say about the film other than that Chon makes the policy of deportation seem unjust and racially motivated by juxtaposing the policy to a linear narrative and a realistic portrayal of an honest life before deportation.

Blue Bayou (2021) is streaming in Canada on Crave.