NY based Filipino trans filmmaker Isobel Sandoval’s heart-wrenching third feature film is sadly one of those tales of the moment that seem like they can never end well.
Its the story of Olivia (played by Sandoval) who is an undocumented Filipino caregiver who looks after Olga an elderly Russian Jewish women (Lynn Cohen) in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn. The irony of the situation is that Olga and her late husband had landed In the US themselves some decades ago in very similar circumstances as Olivias
Besides her work, the sad-eyed Olivia leads a solitary life and is stuck scrimping and saving to send money home to her mother in the Philippines. Also she is trying to pay off Matthew. He is a friend of a friend, who has agreed to marry her so she can finally get a Green Card.
When Matthew tells here he is no longer free and returns her money, Olivia is faced with the reality of the increased possibilities of being deported. The ICE authorities have been forced by the Administration to step up their raids to discover illegal immigrants, and she feels like they are closing in.
Then into the picture appears Alex (Eamon Farren) Olga’s drifter grandson who is just out of rehab and has been given shelter in her house on the condition he helps look after her. However he’s a recovering alcoholic prone to relapses who has trouble hanging on to his job in his uncles slaughterhouse, let alone caring for Olga.
Like Olivia, Alex is also very much a lone , and now living under the same roof, they can hardly avoid eventually drifting together. The only thing is, Alex is totally unaware that Olivia is a trans woman. Can he possible accept this and her?
This is not the story of Sandoval’s own life, but she is however in a position to relate to it personally and so adds a real sense of authenticity to it. It’s a very downbeat drama that seems to deliberately avoid giving even a hint of optimism and hope, yet somehow Sandoval draws us in and keeps us invested until the very end.
We would suppose that stories similar to these will multiply in this present fear-mongering anti-immigrant climate, let’s hope they are told in the same heartfelt manner that Sandoval adopted.
