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Someone leaves an umbrella perched at a restaurant table and walks away, or drops an envelope out of a briefcase or bag. Do you run after them, shouting “sir” or “ma’am” like the lead in a well-scripted play? Do you assume that someone else must have already noticed? Or do you leave it alone, figuring that the god of all things lost has a grander plan for that umbrella or envelope?

The film “The Visitor,” written and directed by Thomas McCarthy, had me rethinking those karmic questions that I often acknowledge but sometimes hold at arm’s length. Set within the framework of post-9/11 immigration policies, “The Visitor” casts new light on the Golden Rule.

A Brief Synopsis

Walter (Richard Jenkins), a recent widower and a college professor drowning in stagnation, returns to an apartment he keeps but rarely occupies in New York City. When he arrives, he finds a couple living there. Though the couple leaves initially, when Walter sees Tarek (Haaz Sleiman), the Syrian drummer, and Zainab (Danai Gurira), his girlfriend from Senegal, on the street without a place to stay, he lets them return.

What follows is not only the burgeoning friendship between Walter and Tarek but also a candid and dismaying depiction of post 9/11 immigration policies. Tarek is wrongfully arrested and transferred to a detention center. Though he’s known him only fleetingly, Walter becomes committed to finding justice for Tarek.

Common Lives Uncommonly Bound in “The Visitor”

“The Visitor” compellingly lures you into a cross-section of lives—lives that are varied in their histories and distinct in their backgrounds, but perhaps not so drastically different in their simple quests for fulfillment. It’s not a self-absorbed or hedonistic fulfillment any of the characters clamor for, but a quiet respite from painful pasts and a longing for the simple ability to lead a life of joy. They have qualities that are admirable, humble, and identifiable.

With the complex and realistic cast created by McCarthy, the turn of events in “The Visitor” becomes etched even more deeply on the collective conscious of today’s society, adding weight to the question of how we interact with the people we encounter and how the lines of dialogue we add to their scripts may affect the climax or outcome of each individual’s unfolding play.

And, if that isn’t enough, “The Visitor” illuminates the danger of just turning your head and looking away.

Guilty Until Proven Innocent?

This movie sunk into me; it wedged itself beneath my skin and cradled any of my alleged nonchalance and my occasional feelings of “that’s too bad, but what can I do?” It’s that capacity to instill empathy that makes this a phenomenal film.

Granted, “The Visitor” struck a personal chord—after spending nearly four hours in the airport waiting for my not-a-citizen-but-perfectly-legal partner to make it through the paperwork rigmarole of immigration (they couldn’t deport him on a whim, could they?), I feel an increased affinity for those subjected to the “guilty until proven innocent” attitude displayed in all too many scenarios.

As much as I was dreading that he would be wrongfully sent back home (my partner, not Tarek), I still knew that even the worst wouldn’t be that bad in the end. The potential calamity was really only a mix-up and would end up as fodder for a good story, something we would laugh at during the cab ride home (and we did).

But as “The Visitor” conveys, not everyone has the luxury of knowing that the truth will prevail.

Beyond Karma

This movie has stayed with me. It’s made me think about how entwined our lives are with those of strangers and how many things we may notice in a day and choose to do nothing and say nothing about.

“The Visitor” reminded me that our lives are full of choices and that choices hold a palpable, tangible energy—just like the energy in atoms and matter. That energy resonates beyond the orb of our own singular existence and experience. That energy moves in ripples and waves; it radiates like solar power and transfers between synapses and cells. It has a lasting impact.

And so the questions prompted by “The Visitor” remain. How wide can you open your eyes? Your heart?

What would you do for a stranger?

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