Antonythasan plays Dheepan, who makes Yalini, played by Kalieaswari Srinvasan, his fictitious wife, and Illayaal (Claudine Vinasithamby) his daughter. One person’s tragedy is another’s salvation. They acquire passports of people who have been killed in Sri Lanka’s internal war. In fact, Dheepan once fought as a Tamil Tiger soldier. Abandoning his real name, Dheepan assumes that new identity, under which he attempts to re-establish himself.

As one would expect, life is a struggle. First they must get out of the refugee camp in which they wait. There is always the danger of discovery after their scheme is concocted. When they finally reach France, life is no picnic. Granted asylum, they take up life in a dangerous neighborhood of housing projects to which they are assigned.

The area is infested with gangs and drug dealers, and it is a struggle to stay clear of involvements and try to build a new life. The most appealing part of the film is watching the day to day pressure cooker efforts of the “family,” and extrapolating from that a sense of what so many refugees are currently undergoing.

There are also the ties that bind in the made-up family. All this arouses sympathy. Unfortunately, events take a turn involving life and death battles to survive. Dheepan is faced with having to use hs wits and stamina all over again and the film turns into stark violence, which undercuts what has gone before and makes for a different sort of drama at the point.