Parents' Guide to City of Dreams

Tackling horrific subject matter, this movie manages to avoid being too cumbersome or preachy, focusing instead on its movements and rhythms and its likable, sympathetic lead character. Directed by Mumbai-born filmmaker Mohit Ramchandani—whose own father once toiled in a sweatshop—City of Dreams is surprisingly effective. It has a big visual approach, as evidenced in its opening shot of a soccer match on a hardscrabble field. The camera whooshes all over as one kid pretends to be an announcer, rapid-fire calling the game. We finally land on Jesús, who is nonverbal and introduces himself with his name tattooed on his hand. He imagines himself in a big stadium, the crowd chanting his name. Ramchandani keeps this rhythm going in the sweatshop, which is grimy and dank, with discarded scraps of cloth covering the floor like pools of dried blood. The camera roves restlessly through the cave-like space.

The drama is heightened, like a brutal, modern-day Oliver Twist, and Jesús takes it all in with his huge, honest eyes. There's even an over-the-top villain, a woman who enters the cave wearing thigh-high leather boots that squelch ominously (she's come to select a new young woman for sex work). None of this is to say that the movie isn't difficult to watch. It's extremely unnerving to see terrible violence ruthlessly applied to a young boy, and it's infuriating to witness just how skilled the villains are at protecting their evil empire. The movie's final third is a break from the brutality, though it's no less tense, as Jesús tries to escape, racing through the streets and back alleys of the garment district. City of Dreams ends with a real-life plea to help out, which might be unnecessary, given what a gut-punch the movie is on its own.