American Sons

The intimate and phenomenal story of JV Villarreal, a Mexican-American Marine killed in action in Afghanistan. The doc is told through Villarreal's own raw combat footage, and how his Marine family's long and emotional journey displays their grief, resilience, and lastly, love, to find healing. It's depth is deep and it touches our souls as we question the lives lost and seek why. The director does a brilliant job evoking the compassion and pain from the Marine brotherhood. Death is always a companion, even with survivors. Villarreal's raw combat footage is the lynchpin of the film, stunning, scary, heartbreaking. It is a fresh look at a young man whose life was taken far too soon, and a rekindle of the emotions we are forced to deal with to handle his death.

American Sons is raw, honest, and painfully real. It doesn't sugarcoat what American soldiers go through - the PTSD, the trauma, the mental health battles that continue long after the uniform comes off. The music is powerful, the storytelling hits hard, and AndrewGonzales' direction gives the film a clarity and truth most documentaries never reach. A tough but important watch.