The Illegal Movie Review: Portrays A Gritty And Disheartening Tale Of Big City Dreams

The film brings light to lost big city dreams and the ugly truth of undocumented workers in the US. The disheartening end makes you thank your fate.

Rating:
3.0/5
Star Cast: Suraj Sharma, Shweta Tripathi, Adil Hussain
Director: Danish Renzu

Language: English and Hindi
Duration:
86 minutes

Story: A gritty, realistic story about a young film student from middle-class India who's forced to drop out to support his family while staying in the United States as an undocumented worker.

The Illegal Review

Review:

The Illegal is a glimpse into the grim side of what happens when your dreams don't come true. It could be an unsupportive family, the financial pressure or the words of a passerby that give you the epiphany, but 'A wise man knows when to give up on his dream and move on'. It is those words that change the course of the film, and Hassan Ahmed's life. He is an aspiring filmmaker who moves to Los Angeles to study but is hit with reality as soon as he reaches the foreign land. The Illegal is a cry for help of the undocumented workers struggling in the United States.

The film starts with Hassan, played by Suraj Sharma, taking his leave from home and his family. He shoots a video of his parents and sister sharing few words of wisdom for the hard times ahead while he studies at the University of California, Los Angeles to become a filmmaker. The achievable dream soon starts slipping through his hands when his uncle admits being unable to house and feed him and leaves him off on the streets. Hassan then finds help and care in another Indian restaurant who agrees to provide accommodation in return for working at the restaurant. With an under the table job and the help Babji played by Iqbal Theba, a fellow employee, Hassan manages to take on the load of college courses. While he assures his family by lying that life is good in the US, he is unaware of his father's deteriorating situation, back home.

The Illegal

Despite realising that he has signed on for a lifetime of servitude at the restaurant, Hassan takes a huge loan to save his father, gives up on his dreams and moves on to living a life of an undocumented worker, who may never return home. The film's end credit scenes are glimpses of interviews Hassan took of his co-workers who were also fooled into working for life as undocumented workers.

Suraj Sharma is a mix of innocence and brevity as Hassan. Though he faces the harsh reality, he still tries to make the best of it. The film also sheds some light on the effect of choices, at every turn he is faced with a choice and his choice is what changes his future.

The film, however, only focuses on the dark shadows without a glimpse of hope. While Hassan does find companionship in a friend Jessica (played by Hannah Masi), he quickly sees the difference between their lives and gives up without opening up to her. While his choices land him in a vicious cycle of despair, it leaves you to think, if you would make the same choices or give up early on?

Overall, the film is an account of life-like events of many stories that end up in back alleys of shiny restaurants that go unnoticed. 'Nobody wants to be illegal, everyone has their own reasons behind it - Emmy'.

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