Mia, the character played by Anna Castillo, in Nowhere, tries to flee an atrocious regime along with her husband, facing several hardships in the process. Anna Castillo has been able to do justice to the character, displaying the traits eccentric to a mother, who selflessly stands up to all the hardships to save her unborn child. She loses her husband on their way out, and later, while trying to hide from the barbaric army, ends up in a shipping vessel. She goes into labor and gives birth to her child there, all by herself, and toils day and night to provide proper care for the baby in the middle of the ocean. Her survival instincts and will to live help her keep the hope alive for the two of them. Directed by Albert Pintó, Nowhere centers on the crafty nature of humans that help them to survive in any situation, coupled with a motivation to cling to life for their loved ones. The Spanish thriller is replete with elements of survival strategies and can be compared to movies like Life of Pi, Cast Away, Into the Wild, among many others. Will Mia be successful in her pursuit of life along with her new-born? Let us find out!
Spoilers Ahead
How Does Mia End Up In A Marine Vessel?
Mia is seen fleeing the country along with Nico, her husband, to escape the atrocities of the new regime. As they set off for Ireland in a truck, she asked Nico how the situation was in Ireland, and he assured her that they were going to be safe. She is initially not as optimistic as her husband and seeks comfort in him. He also gives her a bar of chocolate and tells her that they will save it for later, when they reach their destination safely. He says that their unborn child would be named ‘Noa’, as he compares her to the character of Noah in “Noah’s Ark”, in which he had escaped a catastrophe along with some other animals. In a sudden turn of events, when their truck is stopped at a point, half of the people are forced to go into another truck, separating Nico and Mia.
Mia, longing for her husband, peers out of one of the holes in the container and sees unimaginable violence being inflicted on women and children. At the next stop, when they are asked to come out by the army, Mia climbs on top of a wooden box to hide and silently witnesses all her co-passengers getting killed. She survives by sheer presence of mind and tries to contact Nico but fails. She ends up being transported to one of the cargo ships. That is when things get more muddy, and she is forced to resort to her survival skills. She goes off to sleep after finding out that there is a huge storm at sea, and later finds herself floating inside the vessel in the middle of nowhere. She contemplates suicide after seeing her husband’s vessel sink from one of the holes in the vessel, but her motherly instincts kick in, and she musters up the courage to fight for her child.
What Measures Did Mia Take To Survive Along With Her Baby?
With the rising levels of water in her container, she finds ways to drain it out initially and tries to manage for a few days. Nico somehow gets in touch with her, and on realizing that he is alive, she tells him of her situation. He says that he is coming to get her, which gives her a ray of hope. She suddenly goes into labor inside the vessel and struggles to give birth by herself. With a baby by her side, her motivation to keep it safe and get out of the situation doubles. She tries drilling an outlet at the top of the vessel but fails. She also struggles to feed her baby, as she herself is not getting enough food to produce milk. After being finally able to breastfeed, she almost gives in out of hunger and thirst. In a desperate attempt to survive, she eats her own placenta. She also drinks the water that’s been filling up her vessel, only to become sick, and in her fatigue, she sees her elder daughter Uma, who was taken away from her and killed. We see her helplessly lying in the vessel, floating, and desperate to find a way out. The drops of rain start pouring on her like beams of encouragement. She drinks the rainwater and drills further to make an opening, and this time she succeeds.
Survival for her becomes a tad easier under the open sky! She starts catching fishes and eating them raw to survive, and the baby also seems to like it much better under the sun. When Mia sees an aircraft, she desperately tries to seek help by creating a reflector, but she hurts her leg severely in the process, which she later stitches up herself. She starts throwing out the boxes of Tupperware in a desperate attempt to send out signals. She pumps out water at intervals to keep the vessel from sinking. Even in such a dire situation, she does not forget to spend time with the baby by showing her pictures of her father and sister. She spends nights in wooden boxes inside the vessel as the water level rises, trying to keep the baby warm and safe, in the hope of surviving to see another day.
After days of struggling to keep her vessel afloat, it finally gives in and starts sinking. Even in such a situation, we see Mia holding on to the picture of her family. This brings out the love and devotion that she had for them. She gets stuck underwater for a while due to a net clinging to her foot, but somehow manages to free herself and rush out of the vessel, towards Noa. On being unable to find her child, we see a whale helping her out. This shows that despite the unforgiving nature of the wild, it is kind to the mother who has been toiling so hard to save her offspring. We see Mia and her daughter floating in the middle of the sea when she keeps saying optimistic things to her daughter, just like Nico used to during adverse situations. She says that they have to survive to tell their story, and she also says that she has done her best. Her last desperate attempt to save her daughter is seen when she finally spreads the fish out of the container, which makes the seagulls gather near them. This sends out a signal to a boat near them, and they are miraculously saved.
Final Words
There are, however, certain gaps in Nowhere. We don’t even get to catch a glance of Nico after his transportation to the other vehicle. The scene never shifts to Nico, which makes it monotonous for us to constantly watch the struggle of Mia at a stretch. We do not gain any information about the toil of Nico and the way he struggles to be with his family. The character of Uma has also not been explored fully and we gain very little insight into what had happened to her. We are left wondering what happens to Mia and Noa after they are rescued. Are they able to lead a good life, or do they face similar atrocities in another country?
It might have been possible that there was not enough time for the director to explore so many events in Nowhere! Uma’s character might have just been brought up in the film to make the couple realize the pain of losing a child so that they could do everything to protect the life of their unborn and give their best. We can only hope for Mia and Noa to lead a good life after their rescue. However, it might also have been possible that the mother-daughter duo, after struggling so much, had given up their lives to another atrocious regime, because Nico was not around to protect them. Nowhere, however, has a beautifully knit storyline, with amazing actors doing justice to it. We see an evolution in Mia, who initially lost hope but gained it back after she gave birth to her daughter.
