Icebox

This has the feel of an honestly told story. I don't know if it's true but the emotions are genuine. A story well told, well acted, and well directed.

This movie, in my opinion, is small-budget, but powerful and has successfully spread awareness about gang violence and illegal immigration.

This is a kid any illegal immigrants can relate to. Life below America is hard. Although I still cannot relate to them (since I am not them), I can understand the pain and emotional agony they're feeling. And this movie helps me to be enlightened.

The story arc is not too much, but clean. At first, we see that this is just a kid from Honduras, sent to illegally but forcefully immigrate to America. A poor kid wanting change. Wanting a new life.

But then we go to a part where we start to question our empathy towards him. That's when the political issue starts. That's where specific audience who supports the border might be relieved, and where audience who is a victim of gang violence can relate and will get triggered.

This is a movie free from dramatization, yet still non-Hollywood-ly dramatic and triggering. And that's a good movie.

As a first generation child, the stories of my very own parents crossing resemble the same of which the movie portrays. When my parents saw the bikes they road across the desert, a scoff was shared. "This never happens, the terrain is too tough. No coyote would seriously take this many bikes." Walking is the only way to get across. Yes, gang members and coyotes themselves, take women, rape and beat them. This is true. Highlighting the dangers, high-five. Actors: If you are going to try and get an authentic feel. Get actors who speak spanish. Nothing about their dialect, showed a native, fresh from across the border. What peeved me off the most. Is the director and writer. IS A WHITE MAN. How is a white man, going to portray this very real raw story? Now, I thank this white man for getting our stories out. Just do it better. Watch this movie, take it in. Just remember the struggle is 300 times more then in this movie.

Outside of the sensationalist headlines surrounding the issue of immigration in America, the film manages to not only take a nuanced look at the complexity and humanity of the search for a better life. Yes, this is a sensitive subject, but the film works very hard to give audiences a chance to see past the political talking points and address more intimate issues of survival, friendship, and family.

I saw the info about this movie while surfing through channels. It was already on and I had no intentions on watching a movie already in progress. Needless to say I didn't find another movie to watch, didn't even look for one until it went off. If it isn't a true story it could be. The acting, the storyline just everything about this movie feels authentic.