In-between family drama and observational documentary, Mexican filmmaker Samuel Kichi delivers a touching history which, although wrapped around the context of the struggle and misery ensuing from immigration, it is more a tale on single motherhood than anything else.

A family of three, the mother Lucía (Martha Reyes Arias) and her two kids Max (Maximiliano Nájar Márquez) who is the oldest and Leo (Leonardo Nájar Márquez) cross the border of Mexico to the United States looking for a better life. They will settle in Albuquerque in a tiny apartment managed by the Changs (Johnson T. Lau and Cici Lau). From there Lucía will have to do as much as possible to barely survive, while the kids have only one dream: going to Disneyland.

First of all, the highlight of the entire movie, which is saying a lot considering how good it is, undoubtedly is Martha Reyes’ acting. Her performance as Lucía, the mother who will do anything for the well-being of their kids is marvellous. Her eyes do magic when needing to show a wide range of emotions, either those being exhaustion after multiple work shifts to be able to bring just a few dollars back home, sadness resulting from this exhaustion and exploitation of psyche and physical capacities inflicted to her by a ruthless society and economic system that has left her stranded, or compassion towards their children trying not to show any weakness and making the inhumane experience as easy-going as possible for them. In all situations, Reyes’ performance hits right to the gut leaving you breathless and moved in every frame.

Alongside her, the kids are also capable to show an incredible naturality in her acting. The interactions between them are as they are supposed to be between two little siblings: loving, confrontative, after all chaotic and going all over the place. From playing football and drawing together to get into meaningless little brawls just because. It is true that most probably this is thanks to Kichi’s election in choosing two real brothers and use their real names, which for sure might helped the two little kids in the process of adaptability into the movie, since they are in the end simply behaving as they would while on top of it are being filmed.

The rest of cast, mainly the old Chinese couple who rent their apartment to the family and the other kids in the complex, especially Kevin (Kevin Medina) who is the one that gets more attention, are also spot on. Cici Lau, being the only supportive performer with more than testimonial screen time, is perfect as the caring landlady who instead of looking for conflict with the newly arrived family will be willing to act as a substitutive grandmother to the children.

The writing is as well something worth mentioning. Besides all the great character development, sustained by the above referred performances, both the dialogue and different situations that occur among the family of three, the kids and the Chang’s, and Max and his “friends” feel completely real. The sole focus from the kids on Disney which drives their mother to the edge as she is trying to do as much as she can to barely survive, the silent exchanges between Lucía and Mrs. Chang that speak louder than words, and the uncomfortable and insecure relation of Max with the other kids are totally believable. Together with this aspect, the story flows perfectly, taking mostly the point of view of the two siblings, starting with the claustrophobic feel of being enclosed between the walls of the apartment while their mother’s, although being physically absent, presence and control over the situation is perceived throughout the hours, and progressively evolving to the opening of a new world for the kids which is obtained through rebellion, empathy, obligation and mutual agreement.

Together with these aforementioned elements which put emphasis to the family drama aspect of the film, we also have some incursions to other genres that feel completely on point and well-integrated to the overall story. On one hand we have the use of animation, through the designs and drawings of the kids, which are used to express the deepest feelings that they have towards the situation they are living and are not to put into words and appropriately voice to her mother. And, on the other, the continuous feel that the movie exudes of observational documentary, which is not only displayed by the obvious shots of random people that show the poverty and misery of the area, both for immigrants and US citizens alike, but also once again for what we get to see through the kids’ eyes, and most concretely through the tarnished window of their apartment.

That said, the film fails at time to truly grasp the emotion and conflict of certain sequences by rushing their ending and finishing them when further build-up and tension can be created from them. The picture undoubtedly succeeds in getting you emotional in various points, which is a great success as most of the films only reached that point by a final spur of action that is meant to hit you hard. But precisely such moments feel like they are slightly overlooked and forgotten quite quickly at the times. It would be good to move from them once they reach the peak, but that is not the case as the story evolves from one point to another while you were still building your emotions and reactions to what just happened in the screen.

Still, even if this is an important element, as it cuts short in various moments your tears, rage, relief and so on, the film by Samuel Kichi is an impressive achievement in being able to intertwine various genres or at least visual approaches in favour of telling a broader story. Creating with very little words a great deal of empathy towards its main characters which successfully engulfs you completely in their feelings as it makes you suffer with them and react equally along them throughout the film, which is something that very few stories succeed in doing. Just for having this feeling, even if hard and difficult, and to watch a masterful performance by Martha Reyes this picture becomes a clear must-watch for everyone.