‘Everybody To Kenmure Street’ Review – A Vital Call To Action [Sundance 2026]

The documentary form is a stark reminder of what human beings have been through in our history. It is easy to feel, especially now in our enraging post-truth reality, that our present problems are new and unprecedented. And yet, if we look and listen, we may find not only proof of similar events happening, but even a tiny bit of hope. But we cannot rest on our laurels even with this knowledge. Instead, it should be seen as a call to action, the beginning of a blueprint towards lasting change. 

Everybody to Kenmure Street details an incident in which Immigration Enforcement in Glasgow, Scotland, attempted to imprison and deport two Muslim men in a local neighborhood in 2021, on Eid al-Fitr. Director Felipe Bustos Sierra crowdsourced the majority of the footage to tell a complete story from beginning to end, creating a shockingly satisfying narrative. Given recent events in the United States, this film could not be more topical to show the importance of building community, not only for enrichment, but sadly to protect one another from the impending harm of overreaching governmental agencies.

The documentary itself has some uneven moments, but also some truly inspired ones. The film opens with a history of Glasgow in terms of its progressive racial politics, including work-ins, peaceful protests after the murder of George Floyd, and most importantly, a visit from Nelson Mandela. Smartly, the film hides some of the more checkered history of the area until later, when detailing its more distant (but still relevant) history. This enables the film to slowly provide context for the area and the community, not only as it is, but also how it became as multicultural as it is in the present day.

The uneven moments arrive with the obvious and standard documentary method of using talking heads to tell the majority of the story. This is particularly noticeable when there are professional actors in the place of those who do not wish to show their faces. Emma Thompson (who also produced the film) plays “Van Man,” who crawled under the Immigration Enforcement van to stop them originally from taking the two men away. Her performance, as expected, is moving, poignant, and deeply impactful. But none of this imbalance takes away from the overall importance of this story. 

The film takes the time to remind us that the Eid celebration happens just after the fasting of Ramadan. In interviews, Muslim individuals describe this process as spiritual growth. Specifically, it is a battle to be a better person and is sometimes termed as a “personal jihad.” This struggle against yourself to simply be better rings true, not only in this documentary, but in the fight against fascistic leaders today. The small details–like Muslim shopowners opening their bathrooms to police and protesters alike, and people bringing water and snacks for the community amidst this strife–hammer home the pure ideals needed to succeed in these emotionally fraught situations.

As the film makes clear (and is even more true today), having recordings of these events from the participants is close to the most important step you can take to ensure that the truth is told. Without those recordings from countless cell phones, it would simply be the word of protestors against the word of the police. And frankly, most courts will angle towards the police, as it is their supposed job to serve the community. This, of course, does not take into account poor behavior by governmental forces and police, which seems more common than not. Indeed, the film takes pains to detail why those recordings became even more necessary in the aftermath of the events on Kenmure Street. 

Most importantly, though, the film teases apart the lived experience of immigrants as compared with those who look stereotypically European. One man states, “You can live here 200 years, and they don’t see you as British.” This simple sentence carries with it decades of pain, fear, and living under the yoke of racism. You can feel the terror behind that statement, and you can still see it now. The “place” of immigrants, or even those who look like they may be, in these countries (including the United States) is inherently fragile. And this is why the building of community is paramount. These communities must be diverse, focused, and ready to receive that call to action.

It is nearly impossible not to be moved by the strength of these people from all backgrounds, simply standing up because people are being mistreated. Most of those who protested did not know the Muslim men about to be carried away. And we should not have to know them. It is enough that it is wrong to do so, especially on a feast day, planned to inspire panic and an emotional wound. As the world watches, those who protest must be more honorable, more good, more pure than their oppressors. It is deeply unfair, and yet we cannot give them an excuse to do more violence. Our rage must be internal and somehow move towards peace.

We live in troubled times, to say the least. In America, people are dying in the streets for the crime of peacefully protecting their neighbors from unlawful removal without due process. The images in Everybody To Kenmure Street provide a respite from the drowning hopelessness of doomscrolling violence and pain. It is not simply that the crowd remained peaceful as the world watched. It is the sheer number of people who did the right thing. As the camera zooms out and we are shown the crowd, which started with just a handful, it is awe-inspiring. The people there not only dwarf the police force but are packed so closely that they leave almost no view of the roads in that neighborhood. Here, there is joy and, yes, hope that is sorely needed today and every day.

Everybody To Kenmure Street had its World Premiere in the World Cinema Documentary Competition section of the 2026 Sundance Film Festival. 

Director: Felipe Bustos Sierra

Rated: NR

Runtime: 98m