“War is not the hardest thing a person can go through. It’s not as hard as what comes after.” These opening words are the guiding theme of Itab Azzam and Jack MacInnes’ One in a Million, an epic saga of exile and assimilation centered on Israa and her family, Syrian refugees who flee their perilous, war-torn homeland to restart life in Germany. Filmed over a decade, the family story also doubles as a coming-of-age tale where both the joy of freedom and tumult of assimilation test every family member’s bonds. While the film’s episodic structure and, considering its sprawling canvas, relatively succinct runtime leave some details less explored, the filmmakers capture, with moving sensitivity, how perceived liberty doesn’t always mean true independence.
We’re first introduced to Israa at age 11, circa 2015, and witness her family’s harrowing journey by sea from Syria to Greece, then through multiple countries to the ultimate haven of Germany. Before they leave, children note how they are not scared to die while we see the unforgettable image of small toddlers putting on orange life vests. But during the voyage, two kids succumb to the cold, traumatizing Israa as her normally bubbly personality is shaken. Eventually arriving in Germany less than a third into the film, the rest of the journey is not one of physical distance but emotional obstacles, as the next ten years of assimilation deeply affect every fabric of their family unit. One in a Million opens to new perspectives: we start hearing more from Israa’s father Tarek and, eventually, her mother Nisreen as conflicted feelings of adhering to Syrian tradition start clashing with popular culture, growing up, and romance.
As we can see both in off-the-cuff footage and staged interviews checking in every few years, Azzam and MacInnes are clearly close with their subjects, leading to another emotional layer when Israa’s woes go from pure survival to establishing her own personality, one free from her controlling father. While certain major life events are best left experienced, this conflict between both father and daughter as well as husband and wife plays out in heartbreaking, liberating ways as new identities are formed in a country allowing such change. Because certain time leaps are so substantial, the arcs and feelings of the subjects can feel patchwork even if the dots of their warring desires are easily connected.
The filmmakers also touch on the strange, sad nature of the world as Tarek witnesses, once again, far-right oppression. The AfD descends on Germany, calling for the mass deportation of immigrants, but unlike in Syria, Tarek is able to proudly stand along the protestors without fear of getting harmed. There’s the sense that no corner of the world will ever truly be welcoming to all, but at least some countries still put their best foot forward. This paradox between desiring political and social freedom but not allowing personal autonomy under your own roof becomes a central thread, coupled with the mental anguish of leaving a country you called home for so many years. Tarek is the source of unspeakable pain to his family, but the filmmakers do well to touch on the reasons for such torment.
Although just under 100 minutes isn’t enough time to capture every nuance of 10 years with multiple subjects, One in a Million is an ambitious, affecting declaration that a complete sense of freedom will only arrive when personal independence is fulfilled. With many documentaries, even great ones, taking a narrow view of a specific window of the refugee experience, Azzam and MacInnes’ documentary contends that finding asylum is only the first step in a complex internal struggle to be free.
One in a Million premiered at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival.
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