There’s a scene in Journey Beyond Fear in which father Bismillah describes losing his entire family as a child in Afghanistan. “I have not had any happiness since,” he says. It’s a stark reminder of just how profoundly struggle and loss have defined the lives of him and so many others. And yet, despite all the obstacles they face, all the uncertainty of their circumstances, they go on, day after day.

Journey Beyond Fear showcases this well. Rather than romanticising or exaggerating aspects of the refugee experience, director Robyn Hughan’s newest documentary simply gives you a window into the interactions and activities of Bismillah and his family, the highs and the lows, the extraordinary and the very, very ordinary. It also presents a sharp rebuke for those who condemn the so-called ‘queue jumpers’ by presenting the other side: that of those who choose to wait.

The subject of Hughan’s film is a family of Afghan refugees staying in Malaysia as they await the outcome of their resettlement application. Bismillah, his wife Fatima, and their three children Zahra, Zeinab and Sakina register as UN refugees, but have yet to receive confirmation of their hoped for new life in Australia. At the beginning of the film, they are filled with hope and optimism about their future. However, as months and then years pass with no word back from Australia, viewers can only sit and watch as their indefatigable spirits begin to be worn down by the seemingly hopeless reality of their situation.

Now, I’m no film critic. I watch mainly Marvel movies, and cinematography and screen-writing probably goes over my head, about 97 per cent of the time. But Journey Beyond Fear is a truly powerful film. Filled with real (and I mean real real, these are real people here) characters that somehow find joy in a truly unimaginable situation, it took me on the rollercoaster of a lifetime and left me pretty darn speechless as the credits rolled.

Although I gotta say, if there is one element of the film that falls a bit flat for me, it is the weird, out of place recurring sequence involving birds. First Hughan shows us a small bird in a cage, then a bird pecking at food, jumping about furniture. Finally, upon arrival in Australia, we see a couple of magpies settles atop a fence. Like, I’m sure these birds are symbolic of the family’s plight, but the motif feels a bit like it was shoe-horned to drive home some last-minute, heavy-handed point that was pretty evident already.

On the whole, I would definitely recommend this film to any and everyone living on this planet. It’s a heart-wrenching, thought-provoking glimpse into the world of a family of refugees who have deigned to join the queue rather than jump it. Even Zahra’s family are lucky in their own way; only 1% of refugees registered by the UN are ever resettled.

Is Journey Beyond Fear a perfect film? Probably not—I have no clue. But is it a film worth watching? Absolutely.

Journey Beyond Fear is in cinemas now.