A Must-See Film

I just saw Human Trafficking, one of the best movies I have ever seen. I’m the kind of person who puts most films in the “okay” category, and I’m open to most anything that doesn’t have excessive cursing, graphic sex scenes or full nudity. (Okay, that actually eliminates a lot of moviesJ.) However, I also tend to fall asleep whenever I watch a movie, and as a result I rarely go to a theatre to see one (The dark room, the couch or the relatively comfortable theatre seating makes me want to lay my head against the arm rest and catch some zzzzzs) When I say a movie is incredible after seeing it only once, it means, at the very least, that I actually watched the whole thing without falling asleep.…
What I loved about the movie was the fact that it presented such a vivid picture of a topic we don’t usually consider in the context of American society, human trafficking. We think India, China, Africa (the “country”, not the continent). But the movie is set not only abroad in the Philippines and Eastern Europe, but also in New York and Washington, D.C. Sex slaves are found in each location. In fact, according to the film, America creates the largest demand for human trafficking in the world.
Throughout the film, a number of vignettes with round characters are woven together: a Ukrainian father seeking to find his daughter who was sold into slavery under the guise of a modeling contract; a hardworking, a Czech single mother who had dinner with the wrong guy; a girl about eight years old from the Philippines sold into slavery by her poor parents; an American family whose 12-year-old daughter is stolen and taken to a kiddy brothel; the trafficking lords who orchestrate the operation, and the Department of Homeland Security officers who are trying to put a stop to it all.
Although some aspects of the movie are unbelievable—some of the accents, the way the vignettes come together, and to an extent the way the operation is busted—it does show the gravity of being a sex slave. I was especially struck by the child pornography story line. A scene with an American actor from New York is especially disturbing…But seriously, I should stop talking about the movie, because it’s one you need to see. Be prepared, however, it’s a three-hour, two-part film; the first part sets up the high-drama that ensues in the second. I love serious films that educate and purely humorous ones alike, and this one is certainly a film that should leave you more socially conscious than you were before it….(insert suspenseful promotional music) Mira Sorvino. Donald Sutherland. Human Trafficking. A must-see film. (This film is not rated.) Okay. Let me stop; I’m probably amusing only myself.