Filmmaker Rigoberto Perezcano brings humanity and sly comedy to a current “hot-button” issue in his story of Andrés, a young man from Oaxaca who perseveres in his efforts to cross into the U.S. but finds true emotional connection on the Mexican side of the border. After hitchhiking across the white desert, taciturn and sun-blinded, only to be caught by the border patrol and sent back, Andrés takes a breather and hangs out in Tijuana, contemplating his next move. He brings little but a strong back and an agreeable nature. Though an unpaid job as a slaughterhouse mopper-upper doesn’t work out, a gofer gig at a small grocery store adjacent to the border fence offers additional dividends in his budding relationships with two women who work there. Ela, the store’s proprietress, is looking for companionship since her husband left for the U.S. years ago and hasn’t been in touch. The younger and less trusting Cata also has a spouse in the States, but slowly warms up to Andrés’s tentative romantic pursuit. Subtlety is the key element here, however, as Perezcano nudges his characters forward, at times even toward decisions that may not be in their best interests. Ultimately for Andrés, despite one character’s warning that, “The minute you cross the line, you go to hell,” the lure of unknown territory may be greater than the comforts of home. —Kelly Vance
