Movie

Children of the Enemy

2021 · 99 min

A harrowing, deeply emotional plunge into one man's agonizing fight to rescue his grandchildren from a Syrian prison camp.

Directed by: Gorki Glaser-Müller
Genres: Documentary
Starring: Patricio Gálvez, Clive Stafford Smith, Isabel Coles

Overview: Patricio Galvey is in the middle of an almost unimaginable nightmare. He has not only lost his daughter, who allowed herself to be radicalised and travelled with her white, Swedish husband to Syria, where they both got killed. His seven grandchildren, aged 1 to 8, are now stuck in a prison camp in the war-torn country. The 50-year-old Swedish-Chilean Patricio has one mission: to get them out.

Your rating is saved. See your suggestions, or find titles like this one below.

Rate it, and Mesmero finds titles that feel like it. You do not need an account.

Search YouTube for a trailer

In the UKNo streaming, rental or purchase options known.

Directed by: Gorki Glaser-Müller
Genres: Documentary
Starring: Patricio Gálvez, Clive Stafford Smith, Isabel Coles

In your watch list

How it feels

Written by AI. It can be wrong.

Tone: bleakstrength 3 of 3
tensestrength 3 of 3
earneststrength 2 of 3
melancholicstrength 2 of 3
Pacing: measured, 2 of 4, from slow-burn to relentless
Attention: demanding, 4 of 4, from background-friendly to demanding
Themes: family
grief
survival
isolation
faith
Places: military
road trip
Era: contemporary
Audience: adult
Form: true story
Content intensity: Gore none
Language mild
Violence mild
Sex none

All scales, 0 to 10

Scales, 0 to 10
Scale	Value	0 to 10
Action	2
Horror	2
Humour	1
Realism	9
Romance	0
Tension	6
Darkness	9
Complexity	5
Emotional weight	9

Titles like Children of the Enemy

Movie

Four Daughters

2023

An emotionally raw, inventive reconstruction where performance and memory blur, pulling you into a family's grief and rebellion with unflinching intimacy.

Bleak, tense · about family and grief · true story

Via: bleak
tense
family
grief
true story
Pacing: measured
Attention: demanding
Runtime: 108 min

Details

Four DaughtersHidden from your suggestions.

Movie

For Sama

2019

An unflinching, intimate plunge into war-torn daily life that is harrowing yet tender, leaving you shaken and deeply moved.

Bleak, tense · about family and grief · true story

Via: bleak
tense
family
grief
true story
Pacing: measured
Attention: demanding
Runtime: 100 min

Details

For SamaHidden from your suggestions.

Movie

Jim: The James Foley Story

2016

A sober, heartfelt portrait that moves from warm small-town memories to the harrowing front lines, leaving a heavy but human aftertaste.

Tense, earnest · about family and grief · true story

Via: tense
earnest
family
grief
true story
Pacing: measured
Attention: engaged
Runtime: 111 min

Details

Jim: The James Foley StoryHidden from your suggestions.

Movie

No Other Land

2024

A sobering, immersive documentary that bears witness to loss and resistance, leaving a heavy, urgent sense of injustice.

Bleak, tense · about survival and isolation · true story

Via: bleak
tense
survival
isolation
true story
Pacing: measured
Attention: demanding
Runtime: 92 min

Details

No Other LandHidden from your suggestions.

Movie

Midnight Traveler

2019

An intimate, nerve-wracking handheld diary of displacement, where small family moments of tenderness sit inside constant uncertainty and fear.

Tense, earnest · about family and survival · true story

Via: tense
earnest
family
survival
true story
Pacing: measured
Attention: engaged
Runtime: 88 min

Details

Midnight TravelerHidden from your suggestions.

Movie

Sugarcane

2024

A somber, urgent documentary that immerses you in a community's painful reckoning, demanding emotional attention throughout.

Bleak, tense · about family and grief · true story

Via: bleak
tense
family
grief
true story
Pacing: measured
Attention: demanding
Runtime: 107 min

Details

SugarcaneHidden from your suggestions.

Movie

The White Helmets

2016

An urgent, heartbreaking look at ordinary people risking everything to save lives amid relentless destruction.

Bleak, tense · about grief and survival · true story

Via: bleak
tense
grief
survival
true story
Pacing: measured
Attention: engaged
Runtime: 40 min

Details

The White HelmetsHidden from your suggestions.

Movie

Mariinka

2026

A sober, intimate documentary that sits with loss and divided loyalties, letting the quiet weight of war accumulate without spectacle.

Bleak, tense · about family and grief · true story

Via: bleak
tense
family
grief
true story
Pacing: measured
Attention: engaged
Runtime: 94 min

Details

MariinkaHidden from your suggestions.

Short film

I'm Not Óscar

2021

A quiet, sorrowful pilgrimage through harsh borderlands, carrying the weight of loss and memory with restrained, contemplative imagery.

Bleak, earnest · about family and grief · true story

Via: bleak
earnest
family
grief
true story
Pacing: slow-burn
Attention: demanding
Runtime: 15 min

Details

I'm Not ÓscarHidden from your suggestions.

Movie

The War We Carry

2026

A patient, intimate documentary that immerses you in a family's long ordeal, finding quiet resilience and even joy amid fear.

Bleak, tense · about family and survival · true story

Via: bleak
tense
family
survival
true story
Pacing: slow-burn
Attention: demanding
Runtime: 98 min

Details

The War We CarryHidden from your suggestions.

Movie

Sem Descanso

2019

A quiet, heavy documentary that sits with a family's long search for answers, leaving you unsettled and saddened long after it ends.

Bleak, tense · about family and grief · true story

Via: bleak
tense
family
grief
true story
Pacing: slow-burn
Attention: engaged
Runtime: 78 min

Details

Sem DescansoHidden from your suggestions.

Short film

Niños desaparecidos

1985

A sober, heartbreaking documentary that bears witness to quiet courage against state terror, leaving you shaken and moved.

Bleak, earnest · about family and grief · true story

Via: bleak
earnest
family
grief
true story
Pacing: measured
Attention: engaged
Runtime: 28 min

Details

Niños desaparecidosHidden from your suggestions.

Where to watch in the UK

No UK streaming, rental or purchase options are known.

Streaming data from JustWatch.TMDB

Details

Genres: documentary
Directed by: Gorki Glaser-Müller
Starring: Patricio Gálvez, Clive Stafford Smith, Isabel Coles, Rena Effendi, Cecilia Uddén, Michael Skråmo, Mikael Damberg
Runtime: 99 min
Country: Sweden
Languages: English, Swedish

TMDB IMDb Letterboxd Wikidata

Something wrong on this page? Tell us.

Children of the Enemy

How it feels

More like this

Titles like Children of the Enemy

Where to watch in the UK

Details