In an era of increased racial tensions and emerging right-wing groups, largely caused by worldwide migration, The Long Goodbye provides us the brutal and harsh reality of a family of Pakistani ethnicity living in the United Kingdom.
In a seemingly normal day (although an ominous and sinister aura can be felt in the air), things quickly take a frustratingly wrong turn for Riz (Riz Ahmed) and his family at the hands of a far right movement.
In the final minutes of this short movie, an interventionist speech/rap is performed by the main character in a remarkably symbolic scene – this is where Riz Ahmed’s oscar-worthy quality really comes into play, rendering an enormous intensity to each and every word and addressing issues like hate towards migrants and legitimacy over territory, making it impossible for the spectator not to think about and re-evaluate its perspectives on these subjects.
“Where ya’ from?” is the core premise of the movie. Apparently obvious, this question is becoming increasingly more difficult to answer for a lot of people who life has forced to migrate and who suffer immensely in the process.
An ever-so-important short movie, freely available on Youtube so that its message could be widely spread, it raises awareness on a matter which affects millions of people today and leaves us with one question:
Why do you hate us?