Their escape footage, filmed on the family’s phones, gave a sense of fear that was unsettlingly contagious, and made you think how smartphones now inform this kind of documentary. They can give an unfiltered and close-up immediacy...

Documentaries with life-or-death stakes, not to mention wider resonance in our increasingly unsettled geopolitical world, don’t get much more nerve-racking... At the same time, the film is inspiring about the lengths people will go to for a better life.

Beyond Utopia follows various families as they attempt to flee North Korea. It is eye-opening and outstanding. In essence, it is a life-or-death thriller told in real time where the stakes could not be higher.

Beyond Utopia falls short of masterpiece status but it is a powerful and affecting piece of filmmaking – one that highlights not only the horrors of living inside North Korea but illustrates the dangers and difficulties of escaping.