Logline

Escaping abuse, sex trafficking, and death — Maria, Priya, and Nasim are forced to leave their countries of El Salvador, Iraq, and India for life in the United States. Their lives collide in this powerful story of survival, love, and self-discovery.

Synopsis

In this powerful and emotional drama, we follow three people on their differing and complex journeys to the United States. These unforgettable characters experience abuse, trauma, the struggle for survival, and the search for self-love and acceptance.

Maria, a 19-year-old El Salvadorian woman, is fleeing gang violence and human trafficking in El Salvador after her brother is murdered for avenging her rape. Priya, a 22-year-old Indian woman in an unwanted marriage, is forced by her newlywed husband to move to the United States and leave her family and friends behind to live in this new country where she is isolated by her abuser. Nasim, a 19-year-old Iraqi refugee, must flee his home country to escape abuse and certain death, because his secret of being a gay man is revealed to his father who would rather have a dead child than a gay one.

All three experience life-threatening and traumatizing events as they seek safety, better lives, and navigate their journeys to self-discovery. In the end all three of their lives collide in an impactful way. From El Salvador to India to Iraq, these three people will learn how to be survivors — as well as the sufferings life can bring, and how having the right people in your life can make all the difference in the battle for survival.

Cast of Characters

• Maria – 19, El Salvadorian. Escaping gang violence; she embodies strength but has a lot of distrust due to her repeated trauma. Her father and brother are murdered by the Mara Salvatrucha; she is repeatedly raped and abused.
• Priya – 22, Indian. Raised with traditions she cherishes but always independent and dreamed of becoming a medical doctor. Pressure leads her to marry Samir; she is soon forced to leave everything she knows behind and move to the U.S. with a man she is slowly learning is controlling and abusive.
• Nasim – 19, Iraqi male, struggling with his identity and how his ultra-conservative society clashes with being gay. Repeatedly abused and brutally beaten by his father; raped and tortured by policemen ordered to kill him. He decides he must flee.
• Luis – 20, Honduran male, slightly cocky and compassionate. On the same trek as Maria.
• Aracely – 13, Honduran, pregnant. Innocent, sweet and loving; on the same trek as Maria.
• Carmen – 72, Honduran. Grandmotherly and caring; arranges her, Luis’, and Aracely’s escape.
• Samir – 25, Indian, self-indulging, controlling and abusive. Marries Priya for her family’s prestige and a U.S. job.
• Daniel – 21, U.S.-born, comfortable with himself and his sexuality. Falls in love with Nasim and helps him navigate coming out.

Film Treatment

Act I. Flashing scenes of a rushing river fading in and out with people crossing to the United States; one woman is swept down river. Flashback to Maria, who comes home traumatized after being raped again by the gang. Her brother Santiago seeks retaliation and returns home shot; Maria holds him as he dies. Threatened by a gang member outside her home, she escapes at nightfall. Priya is at her large engagement celebration; Samir tightly grips her wrist and tells her to smile. At dinner with Samir’s parents she is blindsided by the news they will move to the U.S. in weeks. Nasim opens in a group therapy session, nervously rubbing his bandaged wrist: “Hi, I am Nasim. I am an Iraqi refugee and . . . and I’m gay.” He has been outed; his father orchestrates a hit on his life by way of the local police.

Act II. Maria’s motorcycle runs out of gas; she is picked up by a man whose “help” comes with expectations. She jumps from the moving vehicle and is taken in by José and Teresa, a kind couple in Mexico. José drives her to meet a coyote taking a truck-load of people to the border, where she meets Luis, Carmen and Aracely. They walk to La Bestia (“The Beast”) train. Aracely tells Maria she was kidnapped, raped and is now pregnant. They jump from the moving train near the border; Carmen lands roughly, spraining her ankle. Priya arrives in the U.S. to a chaotic international airport. She lives with a man who is becoming increasingly colder and abusive. After a violent confrontation, she finds Dr. Mangal, a successful Indian woman doctor she can confide in. Nasim lives in a small cinderblock basement room at a diner where he works as a dishwasher; he is drawn to a bar with a rainbow flag, where he meets Daniel. As their relationship progresses, Nasim’s fear of being gay bares itself; he pushes Daniel away.

Act III. At the border, Aracely begins to give birth in the desert. She hemorrhages and dies; Maria takes her baby. Carmen’s ankle gives way as the rushing river sweeps her downstream. Maria carries the baby across the border and is reunited with Luis. Priya tells Samir she is leaving him; he attacks her, but the doorbell rings — a police officer and Dr. Mangal. Priya walks past Samir, telling him it’s over. Daniel finds Nasim unconscious with cut wrists; in the hospital, the doctor who counsels Nasim to enter group therapy is Priya, who followed her dreams to be an M.D. The group leader Nasim joins is Maria. The final shot: a backyard birthday party for Luis and Maria’s daughter, Aracely, named after her mother. Priya, Nasim, and Daniel are all there to celebrate this special day with their family they created.