A Better Life

A film set in Los Angeles. Carlos is a gardener. He came from Mexico and has no papers. Every morning he gets into a truck. He works in the gardens of rich houses. His son Luis is fourteen. At a school in East Los Angeles. There is a distance between them. The boy is ashamed of his father. There are gangs around Luis. His friends keep calling and he has not joined yet. Carlos's employer is retiring. He will sell the truck. Carlos wants to buy it. He will set up on his own. He has no money. He borrows from his sister. He buys the truck. The next day he hires a labourer. The man seems reliable. The truck is stolen. From there the film is a search. Father and son go through the city together. They spend time together for the first time. They cannot go to the police. Carlos has no papers and the truck is not registered in his name. They comb the city themselves. A market, a bar, a hostel, a rodeo. What the narrative is interested in is not a vehicle but a record: its idea is that the man has no rights; his property is stolen and he cannot report it. They find the truck. Then a checkpoint appears. The narrative does not soften the ending. The last section takes place at a detention centre and father and son talk through glass. Demián Bichir was nominated for the best actor Oscar. It was shot on location and most of the extras are from the area. Chris Weitz directed. Demián Bichir, José Julián, Chelsea Rendon and Joaquín Cosío are in the cast. Who it is for: anyone who likes American independent cinema and narratives about migration. Who it is not for: anyone looking for hope; the narrative offers no ease anywhere and its ending is openly painful.