City of Dreams

I mean I was in tears by the end of the movie. I haven't cried that hard in a long time. I can't believe that this is happening in LA and all over the world. To be honest it's an issue that I never have paid much attention to and after watching this film that has changed. I think that is the point of this movie is to make people more aware of this problem. An effort needs to be made in order to figure out the solution. Besides from the powerful message the film is beautifully shot and the acting is phenomenal. I appreciate these filmmakers and their effort to document and bring awareness to this subject.

If you find yourself at this film, you know what you've bargained for. This is a tough watch. Young motherless Mexican boy Jesus (Ari Lopez) has dreams of a soccer star life. But of course he's mired in the worst poverty imaginable. He gets a dubious chance to attend an LA soccer camp, which Dad eagerly signs off on. Before you know it, he's sold off into a windowless sweatshop sewing for his life. The going rate for kids is $10K and up. A potential girlfriend is sold off into child sex slavery. Another kid arrives with the soccer camp pamphlet and Jesus loses it. Of course some sort of escape is in the works. We then meet Officer Stevens (Jason Patric). He strays from the LAPD MO and gets his just desserts. But a happy ending is coming, or at least as happy as one can expect under the circumstances. Patric is the biggest name in the film. He's had a decent enough career, but nothing notable in over thirty years. This film does have flashy producers: Tony Robbins, Luis Fonsi, Yalitza Aparicio, Linda Perry, Luis Mandoki, Enrique Santos, Thomas Jane and more. The director's father served in a sweatshop, so he has skin in the game.

This is a labor of love to focus attention on the issues of child labor and sex trafficking, kidnapping, etc. The last third of the film really picks up the pace and is riveting to watch. Patric is the white savior who makes everything marginally better. We assume that Jesus is better because of the epilogue, which I will not spoil. This is not a great film, but not a bad one either.

The pacing of this film is spot on, keeping you engaged from start to finish. The story unfolds in a way that feels both compelling and coherent, never dragging or losing focus. The structure of the film is well-organized, with a clear progression that makes the unfolding events easy to follow. Overall, the pacing and structure work together to create a gripping narrative that maintains your attention throughout the entire film. There was not a moment in the film that I was distracted by anything else around me. Because of the proper filmmaking my attention was clean and I was never in a place where I was not focused on what was going on in front of me.

Ari Lopez played his role perfectly. I don't know how old he was when he played this role, but being so young and being able to show so much emotion without saying a word, is amazing.

He didn't say much in this movie, but the emotion he showed, was enough.

This movie is one of those movies that is incredibly hard to watch. I will dig deep into your soul and make you sad. Asad that some people have lives like this. It is sad that life is unfair to many people around the world.

Modern-day slavery exists and trafficking exists. The fact that this exists breaks my heart and will break your heart.

It's 100% a must-see movie!!! I'm happy they made this movie to raise awareness about this issue in this world.

Ari Lopez should definitely get roles in more movies, he is amazing.

Anyhow this movie is dark, this movie will break your heart and you will cry a lot. If you don't cry, then your heart will feel so heavy.

100% you have to see this movie!!!

I'm lucky to have grown up with a certain ignorance.. liked most people in the world we are not enough aware of the suffering of others. Safe from the horrors that other people endure i can buy my clothing at the cheapest price. But it's not that I'm truly unaware - it's what we Dutch call 'far from my bed'.. these things are so far away from my day to day live that my subconscious chooses to ignore that horror.

Therefore i thank the makers of this movie, it was very impressive.

The storytelling was very good, camerawork did add to that. The acting of all the characters and dept off their roles were very well played out. It shows that there are only victims - all having their dreams crushed.

A movie the world needs to see.