How is it possible that no one thought to warn Jesper Ganslandt that putting blond Swedes in the role of fleeing refugees, in order to make today’s humanitarian crisis more accessible to Westerners, was a really, really bad concept? Good intentions make lousy paving stones, and in the case of “Jimmie,” the road leads to a seriously misguided place. Shot in a late Malickian style and starring Ganslandt’s 4-year-old son, Hunter, the film is meant as a full-immersion plunge into the terrors of escaping one’s homeland through hostile territory. Yet substituting Scandis for Syrians or Africans or Rohingya doesn’t increase empathy, it just smacks of “white lives matter.” While that surely isn’t the director’s goal, it’s hard to get beyond this unwanted consequence.

His timing also isn’t great: Could these be the Nordic refugees Trump wants to welcome? It’s especially unclear who “Jimmie” is meant to target, since...