The themes of Mongrel hinge on a litany of cruel ironies and oppositions: the decent caregiver in an indecent, exploitative world; the dreams of migrants in an economically depressed wasteland; and the physically infirm straining against cruelty and ambivalence. 

Set in a Taiwanese backwater, the film follows undocumented migrant Oom (Wanlop Rungkumjad), who finds work as a caregiver for the families and clients of people traffickers. Oom’s key workers include a severely disabled man and his infirm mother, and his job is to be compassionate towards them, so much so that he exposes himself to the same exploitation he sees all around him. 

Director Chiang Wei Liang has created a stark and austere work of unbroken shots and an unmoving camera, punctuating the rundown setting with viscerally confronting imagery. Within these bleak tableaus is a story of incredible empathy, one that studies caregivers with awe and the travails of migrant life with unflinching horror.

Mongrel was screened as part of Edinburgh International Film Festival and is in cinemas now.