UUF Screens “A Better Life”

A Better Life, a film directed by Chris Weitz, will be shown at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship in Ephraim on Aug. 21 at 4:30 pm.

Carlos is an undocumented Mexican immigrant working as a gardener for wealthy Los Angeles residents. He lives from hand to mouth and day to day in a tiny house whose garden is used to raise starter plants for his clients. His wife left some years ago, and he raises his 15-year-old son Luis by himself.

These two men are pulled apart by American life. Carlos (Demian Bichir) keeps a low profile, works hard, and holds traditional values. Luis (Jose Julian) is steadily being lured to gang life. The action escalates when Carlos is given an opportunity to attain a “better life” by buying his own landscaping business.

A Better Life provides a tour of Los Angeles, not the L.A. of Sunset Boulevard or Rodeo Drive, but the L.A. of restaurants, of Mexican rodeos, of gang territory, and of marginal workers who are essential to the city’s economy.

The film is part of the monthly Movies That Matter series, designed to exam a wide range of issues and held on the third Tuesday of every month.

The UU Fellowship is located at 10341 Highway 42 in Ephraim. For more information visit http://www.uufdc.org or call 920.854.7559.