The UK Home Office hostile environment policy is a set of administrative and legislative measures designed to make staying in the United Kingdom as difficult as possible for people without leave to remain, in the hope that they may “voluntarily leave”

Sonita Gale’s directorial debut, the BIFA nominated Hostile dives into Britain’s aggressive immigration policies and the devastating and inhumane impact they have on hard-working migrant communities across the country. 

The documentary covers some familiar ground with segments dedicated to the high-profile Windrush case of Anthony Bryan, which was also dramatised in the BBC drama Sitting in Limbo, but substantial energy leans towards the ongoing impact the Home Office’s hostile environment policy is having on hard working migrants in this new pandemic stricken climate.

In an astonishing clip, Boris Johnson confesses to his ignorance that migrants on the Leave to Remain visa are unable to access public funds, and even though he vows to look into this matter, nothing ever comes of it.  All he can muster is a certificate of gratitude to a volunteer group desperately trying to feed starving families who are only suffering because of his government’s draconian policies. 

Beyond the countries current malaise, Sonita Gale attempts to provide some context to a country with an unpleasant relationship with race and discrimination. There are shades of the Ava DuVerny documentary 13th as we get a history lesson on the deeply sown institutional racism caused by outdated and poorly intendedlegislation, but it’s the personal accounts of those impacted hardest that really make the blood boil.

Students being deported, debt ridden families, starving children – Hostile paints a shameful and sorrowful picture of a country in a moral crisis and insists that more needs to be done.