Jesús is voluntarily mute. I cannot decide whether this is a good thing or a bad thing given his predicament. You see, the tween boy works in a sweat shop [read: the basement of an abandoned Los Angeles mansion]. “Works” implies he earns a wage. He does not. He is a child slave. In Los Angeles. And he’s not alone. If he runs away, he gets caught, beaten, and tortured. If he questions authority, he gets beaten and tortured. If he so much as farts loudly, he gets … we you get the point. So, being mute, well, it means that your wishes will be more difficult to communicate, but as such wishes only exist to be punished, maybe it’s better to say nothing. Ever.
In a tale that will eat at your soul, City of Dreams tells how Jesús, the lone child of a single father (mom died in childbirth), spends his days in a poor Mexican village playing soccer and dreaming of becoming professional. Dream Jesús has some serious skills. One day on the promise of soccer camp in Los Angeles, he gets into a sports car with a man he doesn’t know. And on this day, his childhood ends. He may never see his father again.
City of Dreams is a tough watch. There are no two ways around that statement. Jesús has been sold to sweatshop slavers. In a way, he’s lucky, as they do feed him and his manual labor is making dresses, which is, perhaps, not as backbreaking as it could be – although tell that to seamstresses. Being a boy, he’s also unlikely to be auctioned off as a sexual slave. Well, perhaps I should say “less likely.” These are evil, evil people.
The life is fairly one-dimensional. 
Jesús sews dresses and waits in a long line for the one basement toilet. Friendship isn’t exactly forbidden, but it sure isn’t encouraged. Who has time for a friend when the slave clock operates 6 am to 11 pm every day of the week? And yet, mute Jesús manages a close relationship with Elena (Renata Vaca). In between dresses and lashes, they exchange smiles. Elena salves his wounds. Jesús makes her a flower from discarded fabric. It would be sweet if it weren’t so heartbreaking. And yes, this is not unlike what slavery was like when it was legal in this country.
This is the most mature film I’ll see this summer. And the film knows it, challenging its viewers to “watch the news” to find out what ultimately happens to Jesús. Apparently, slavery occurs all the time in the United States, which is damned depressing and damned frustrating on several levels. I commend City of Dreams for presenting Jesús as consistently sympathetic and watchable even when his circumstances grew more dire. We are never not rooting this kid. Please, please Jesús, RUN! RUN AWAY! NEVER STOP! Is it that we cannot imagine the monsters who do this, or we just don’t want to imagine them.
I knock this film on few counts. I won’t knock it for being both depressing and frustrating. I think that’s the film’s job. If we aren’t feeling these things, City of Dreams isn’t effective. I will, however, knock it for presenting LA cop Stevens (Jason Patric) as a “Lone Wolf” crusader type. Not only is this characterization both cliché and dated, guys who don’t play by the rules don’t last long in the cop biz. Not in the age of “everybody owns a camera.” That just doesn’t play. I also slight it for coming directly on the heels of Sound of Freedom, a deliberately politically charged look at human trafficking. Sorry, but this shouldn’t be a political issue and the mere fact that City of Dreams came out the year after Sound of Freedom means there’s some sort of asshole RW agenda behind it. And there it is – produced by Vivek Ramaswamy. Yup, asshole RW agenda. I’m sure this film will be used as some sort of anti-Democratic cudgel sooner or later. Which is an absolute shame as human trafficking does exist. It exists in the United States, and it’s everybody’s problem, especially for those who have the power to do something concrete about it … like Vivek Ramaswamy.
In Mexico, Jesús was child
His life was comfortably mild
Sold as a slave
And a premature grave
He’s now the epitome of youth defiled
Rated R, 114 Minutes
Director: Mohit Ramchandani
Writer: Mohit Ramchandani
Genre: Films that keep you up at night
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: SJW
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: Human traffickers
