Isabel Sandoval is a sensation. That’s it. That’s the review.

Absolutely incredible. Pacing is slow but I never felt impatient with any of the moments. Compelling and true to life. Also if you are trans, watch this, it's well done.

While this story of an undocumented transgender Filipino care giver seeking to find a way to legally remain stateside stems from a potentially engaging premise, it never goes anywhere once launched. The film's slight, underdeveloped narrative, with its many story threads that never fully pan out, yields a picture that flails about in search of focus. That's unfortunate, because writer-director Isabel Sandoval's latest has a rich vein of material to draw from if only it were given the development needed to make it flourish cinematically. What viewers are left with is a meandering piece with lots of long, lingering, gorgeously photographed shots that add little to a story that doesn't know where it ultimately wants to go.

A dramatic, yet soft romantic story with implicit overtones built on the traumatic intersection of transsexualism and illegal immigration. A quiet movie with a message that is best felt rather than explained.

Moved a bit too slowly, but watching the relationship dance was interesting. As was the ICE dance.

Isabel Sandoval wrote, directed, produced and starred in a film about an undocumented trans Filipino caregiver who pursues a marriage to obtain a green card. First off, can we all be thankful that movies from diverse voices are being given a platform more and more frequently? As much as that means to me, it doesn't excuse the filmmaker from being sloppy and leaving wide gaps in the story that don't make the film feel authentic. There are several great ideas here, but mixed together they work as well as oil and water. People are too reactionary which defies logic considering how quickly and forced these conflicts and resolutions are. While we have to accept the fact that this is a first-time filmaker, we can't just forgive the movie's faults out of sympathy. This is a story that needs to be SPOT on and not only engaging, but lose the viewer. Instead, I was left wondering why certain characters after being developed, just vanished. A trans woman who takes care of an elderly woman with dementia, combined with a romance of her grandson combined with that evil character who just seems drawn to scale. I hope Sandoval gets another chance because she shows so much promise. I just wish there had been another pass or two at a largely invisible script. Trans voices are a necessity in film and this is worthy of a watch for the sole fact it treats the typically voiceless with dignity and respect. I just wish it was a better film. Finally, I caught this on Netflix and may I suggest how to watch? There are two ways and considering there are three languages used, I strongly suggest using captions. Now, this is going to be annoying because there's no way just to caption the two foreign languages to the English speakers and instead you get captioned EVERY word that's said and EVERY move that's heard. Considering the movie starts and ends in a language other than English.. you're just gonna have to show a little bit of trust. The scene at the beginning is integral to the film. Final Score: 5.8/10

Very, very slow movie. Don't bother.

S**t, this was a great movie. A movie about people, not a bunch of made up drama to get people to watch. This movie was much better than I expected, and I loved it. Original everything, so interesting. I have to agree more with the critics on this one.

Well done! Intelligent. Sensitive. I loved it!

Olivia (played by the director, Isabel Sandoval), a trans woman, is a Filipino undocumented immigrant in Brooklyn who is a caretaker for a lady who is suffering from dementia. As her options for getting a green card become fewer, she meets Alex, Olga's grandson, and a relationship develops between the two. I enjoyed this movie. It was nice seeing a film about a trans woman directed by a trans woman who plays the lead character in the film. There are two things I enjoyed most about the film. First, it is an interesting and believable character study of what it must be like to live in fear of immigration in America under the current president. The constant fear of someone tipping off immigration, or the risk of making a trip to the market, is always there. Second, while the relationship between Alex and Olivia was not always very believable, when it was, it worked as a story of two people who are trying to make a better life for themselves. The sense of place and time was well executed; it reminded me in some ways of the films of Ramin Bahrani (Man Push Cart) in how the films capture people living on the margins and how much of a part of the fabric of life in the city they are. Thumbs up from me for a film that isn't perfect but one whose story is sensitively told and generally well-acted.

Complex, beautiful film. Held my interest as it navigated the typical experiences of romance and work while simultaneously exploring the rarely seen experience of being trans and undocumented.