For so long our modern refugee crisis has been defined by fearmongering and paranoia against the non-white “other” that we often overlook the perils of seeking asylum. Anthony Woodley’s The Flood, based on his and screenwriter Helen Kingston’s observations while working at a refugee camp in Calais, France, depicts those perils in haunting detail. Yet by compiling so many migrant stories into a single character, the film often feels like it’s trying to convey more than it can handle.

The character in question is Haile (Ivanno Jeremiah), an Eritrean man discovered in a lorry crossing into the UK. After his arrest, he’s interviewed by Wendy (Game of Thrones’ Lena Headey), an immigration officer who’s sat through multiple cases to determine whether a refugee warrants asylum. Unfortunately, Haile’s already made a bad impression—he attacked with a knife a police officer who found him—and the British government, leaning into media descriptions of him as a suspected terrorist, prefer his request be revoked for security purposes, a decision that reeks of political points. So we get backstory into Haile’s life, how he went from a soldier to a refugee stuck in the Calais Jungle encampment, home to thousands of migrants, with no way to reach the UK.

A lot of what works in The Flood can be attributed to Ivanno Jeremiah’s performance. There’s a deep sadness in his face that sells much of Haile’s unspoken past and migrant journey without words. Haile survived torture for disobeying orders, a boat sinking, and the grueling conditions of the Calais Jungle, yet he’s still forced to hear “go back where you came from” retorts from fearful citizens. As Haile points out, the only people willing to help migrants in these circumstances are often dangerous men (smugglers) who hold sway over which lucky few get to cut in line.

The film also provides subtle glimpses at the dehumanizing politics that hinder refugees on their journeys and places of sanctuary. Wendy is regularly reminded by her boss Philip (fellow GoT actor Ian Glen) to wrap up their interview so the government can reach a verdict, implying that these “life or death” obstacles mean little compared to the exploitation of public fears. Likewise, Haile’s partnership with a Pakistani couple requires him to take their place as a client of the camp’s Afghan smuggler, who’s inferred to be culturally hostile to Pakistani migrants. Political biases beset all.

Unfortunately, when The Flood tries to contrast Haile’s past with the arc of his interviewer, it starts feeling noticeably trope-heavy. Things just feel a bit too convenient that Wendy, currently dealing with a divorce and child custody issues, would find his account more impactful than the other migrant cases she’s heard in the past. It’s a flash of the personal and professional merging together, something frowned upon in this job. If her scenes work, it’s more often due to Headey’s strong performance than the script, which falls back on too many clichés to feel authentic.

And then there’s the elephant in the room: despite making us sympathize with its migrant characters, this movie doesn’t say much about the role Western governments play in escalating refugee crises. Given how often Western exploitation of non-Western nations leads to violence and displacement amongst its citizens, you’d expect a larger point to come up during the interview sequences. However, that point never really arrives. Characters either side with the status quo or the refugee’s plight, rather than ask why our complicated immigration system warrants smuggling practices at all.

The Flood is well researched in its subject matter and features a few unique shots, specifically a nightmare sequence of Haile’s cell flooding that literalizes its metaphorical title. When it’s focused on Haile and the refugee struggle, the film works. But by creating morally good archetypes on both sides of the aisle, things are wrapped up too neatly without delving further into the immigration system’s flaws. It sympathizes with the plight of refugees but offers little alternatives as how to fix the obstacles endangering their lives.