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Currently Playing: MOTOS | Omeleto

Two cousins make a discovery. Frank and Benito are cousins who work together, scraping by as loggers in the Santa Cruz mountains after the wildfires. They live hand to mouth, sharing a RV as a home and bickering over chores. They're in debt to a "coyote" who helped them into California, and what little they make goes to him. The cousins are family, but are also very different. One day at work, they discover something deep in the redwood forest, something that can bring them together or tear them apart. Directed and written by Jesus Beltran, this quietly probing short drama is a meditation on the precariousness of immigrant existence and the fragility of the American dream. It takes unexpected turns as it steadily constructs a portrait of two men at the edges of society, entering into their hopes, dreams and aspirations while making it clear just how far they are from realizing them. The storytelling reflects the cousins' milieu, with the visuals conveying a naturalistic grittiness among the charred and damaged slopes of the Santa Cruz mountains. It is an isolated place, and both Frank and Benito feel cut off from the mainstream of society, both geographically and psychologically. Yet the uncertainties of geopolitics still affect them, especially with their debt to the coyote hanging over them. The cousins -- played by actors Bobby Soto and Rafael Cobos Delgado -- have only one another for company, and their back-and-forth is both grumpily affectionate and genuinely irritating to one another, with one cousin more lackadaisical and "American," while the other is more intense, serious and quietly anxious about the future. The attentive, observant writing and pacing are more focused on their dynamic and personalities, but a slow sense of dread and suspense seeps into their tone when they discover something disturbing in the woods, along with a surprise that suddenly opens up a horizon of possibilities. Yet it also brings the cousins' differences in stark relief, and they wrangle over what course to take. It's a testament to the skillful storytelling and craft that MOTOS generates an undercurrent of uncertainty that could easily tip into thriller territory. But it stays true to its mission of character-focused narrative, immersing us in the thrill of possibility and miraculous change for a few beautifully lyrical moments. Yet, in the poignant, bittersweet end, reality beckons for the cousins and the viewers. They're maybe a tiny step closer to their dream of freedom and prosperity, but it's a long road, with an end that is hidden just past the known horizon. MOTOS. Courtesy of Jesus Beltran at https://zumpangofilms.com.