Trade - 5

This film is more about raising awareness about the reality of the sex slave trade than a well acted or told story. Fortunately for the film raising awareness is a good thing and culturally relevant, unfortunately it makes for a sub par film. Written by Jose Rivera (The Motorcycle Diaries), this fictional (based on the 2004 NY Times article The Girls Next Door by Peter Landesman) story attempts to tie together four characters. A young Mexican girl, Adriana, who gets kidnapped and meets Veronica who has been captured from Poland through a immigration scam, and her brother who pursues her captures with Ray (Kevin Kline), a police officer from Texas who lost a daughter 10 years ago. This adventure takes all of them from the Mexico border through the states as they rendezvous in New Jersey for an internet action to sell Adriana. The film tries to be somewhat nuance by not having a happy ever after, but shows how the emotions that injustice incites can either free or ensnare us. The film ends with text on a black screen giving facts and quotes about the reality of the sex trade. To learn more about what you can do about this issue visit the films main page.