First They Killed My Father

First They Killed My Father adapts the memoir of Cambodian refugee Loung Ung, and it’s not an easy life she’s lived. From the eyes of her child self, the turbulence of the time is already shocking to see, having had to go through starvation, separation from her family, and being thrown into the Cambodian civil war as a child soldier. However, what makes this harrowing biopic work is the way it balances the historical context with Ung’s personal journey. Drawing from her activism in the country (the same humanitarian work that granted her Cambodian citizenship), Angelina Jolie moves beyond the political to the situation on the ground, keeping the memory of what’s at stake each time foreign intervention stokes civil war.