Borderline

Again, I can't remember who recommended Amulet (2020), but it was a good recommend.

It stars Alec Secareanu as an Eastern European immigrant laborer in England (I guess?). He lives in an abandoned building with some other homeless people, but seems to keep to himself, reading philosophy. We also see him in flashbacks, as a soldier guarding an isolated wooded border crossing. There, he also keeps to himself, and reads philosophy (Hannah Arendt). He also finds an amulet in the shape of a pculiar figure. 

One day, his squat burns down, and he barely escapes, collapsing from smoke inhalation. He wakes up in a hospital, with a nun offering to help him out. Since all his money has vanished, she suggests he live with Carla Juri, a young immigrant woman with a dilapidated house. She is caring for her dying mother, who is only a screaming presence in the attic. He will do some chores in exchange for free rent. Neither of them is very happy about this, but the nun (Imelda Staunton) insists, and so it comes to pass.

The house isn't in too bad shape, but the wallpaper is peeling and there's black mold everywhere. Also, the water is bad. When Secareanu tries to fix the toilet, he finds it clogged with a living, hairless, albino bat - which bites him. So, not a great living situation, but Juri can cook. Although he says he never gets hungry, he can't resist her odd-looking meat dishes.

Throughout, we get more of the flashbacks of his time as a border guard. One day a woman runs up to the border and tries to cross. He stops her, and tells her she will just be shot when she leaves the woods. It turns out that she is looking for her daughter on the other side. They live together for a while. He is kind to her, but tries to follow orders. This will not end well.

Neither does his relations with Juri. The dying mother is not what she seems, the nun isn't, and neither is Juri. I won't spoil what is going on, but I will say it is pretty creepy. Then it gets kind of silly, with a giant seashell he crawls into and meets... Never mind.

Ms. Spenser a couple of problems with this movie. One is that there were too many poorly motivated choices. But the main one is that once again, real life is creepier than the supernatural. Secareanu was probably guarding the Serbian/Croatian border - with him on the Serbian side. So you can guess what happened to the woman trying to cross. 

However, the movie ends with him and Juri returning to the old country, and Juri meets the woman, who is now a clerk at a gas station. She lives with her daughter. So, happy ending?