An unnamed radio operator at the CROSS maritime rescue service stationed at Cap Gris-Nez. She is a single mother relying on bureaucratic protocol and emotional detachment to execute her duties. Confronted with the overwhelming scale of the migrant crisis, she insists that her job requires her to operate strictly within the boundaries of territorial waters and established procedures.

An investigator reviewing the official recordings of the calls between the sinking dinghy and the CROSS desk. She bears an uncanny physical resemblance to the narrator, sharing the same severe ponytail and habit of tucking hair behind her ear. She rejects bureaucratic excuses and presses hard on the ethical implications of maritime rescue choices.

A young Kurdish migrant steering a failing inflatable boat by mobile phone. He maintains practical authority on the dinghy, attempting to keep the other passengers calm as the motor struggles. He repeatedly contacts rescue services, driven by a simple ambition to reach England and work in a grocery store.

A CROSS radio operator who originally intended to become a priest. Exhausted by the impossibility of saving everyone in distress, he has adopted a posture of cynical detachment. He reads the Catholic philosopher Blaise Pascal during his shifts and views the sea as an ancient, untamable evil.

The narrator's young daughter. Her warm, secure existence provides her mother with comfort but also serves as an unspoken contrast to the children freezing in the Channel. She uses her imagination to invent consoling stories about the people lost at sea.

The narrator's ex-partner and Léa's father. He holds openly hostile, nativist views regarding the asylum seekers arriving in northern France. He believes the rescue services should actively repel the dinghies, representing a localized version of widespread societal cruelty.