The malleable nature of documentaries is something that never fails to be fascinating. The past decade has been a boon for documentary filmmaking as audiences grow more voracious to consume something that connects with them in a way that only real life can. Few topics have been as much of a hot-button issue during this time as that of undocumented immigrants in the United States. While the most recent presidential administration garnered the most headlines, we actually need to go back to the President Obama era to confront the injustices on display in Cristina Ibarra and Alex Rivera’s inventive new documentary hybrid film The Infiltrators. The film blends the on-the-ground real-life footage of the National Immigrant Youth Alliance as they plot to embed someone in a Florida detention facility with fictional reenactments of the drama that could not be filmed inside. The approach results in one of the boldest and most thrilling uses of the medium that I have seen in some time. It is not often you get to see real-life superheroes captured on film.
The film follows the incredible efforts of the NIYA as led by a passionate refugee named Mohammad Abdollahi and a small but effective group of young undocumented individuals. If you ever wanted to feel like you are not doing enough with your life, wait until you see what these young people are accomplishing. Conventional thinking would have you believe that if you are undocumented, you need to hide away from the police any time they are near. Abdollahi argues that this line of thinking is completely false – in order to have any power as an immigrant you have to fight back through acts of civil disobedience that draw attention to your plight. Through careful organizing and sheer determination, they have developed a network to help locate detainees and develop strategies to help them be released. This film follows their efforts to help Claudio Rojas, an undocumented man detained outside his home and sent to Florida’s Broward Detention Center after living in the United States for several decades. The group’s solution to this situation is an exercise in bravery that really flies in the face of self-preservation.
Activist Marco Saavedra allows himself to be detained as an undocumented individual so he can understand what is going on in the detention center and to be able to truly help Claudio and many others find their pathway out of the facility. It is at this point where the film begins to blend the recreated elements through actors portraying these individuals with the footage that is captured on the outside. The effect is a bit jarring at first; when Marco plays the role of the clueless foreigner to get himself detained, we hear the audio of real-life Marco while cutting to Maynor Alvarado playing a version of Marco. You soon get used to the structure, though, and you find that the film is not doing some lame past-reenactment – it is seamlessly blending the two worlds. We get to a point where we are watching the “scripted” Marco have a pulse-pounding conversation over the phone with the real-life Abdollahi about trying to prevent an impending deportation. Without the reenactments, we would be missing the half of the story that keeps things so thrilling.
While the film has a very deft way of showing all of the ways in which ICE can be detrimental to an otherwise happy and stable family, the film is not bogged down by just being an “issue” picture that can be draining to anyone who does not share the same viewpoints. It might be strange to say about a film that can be so heartbreaking, but The Infiltrators is extremely entertaining. There are times when you feel like you have slipped into an Ocean’s 11-esque heist movie where all the members of a team are working together to pull one over on the powers that be. Marco and Claudio create an effective system within the confines of the detention centers that allows for detainees to get the help they have been deprived of just because they did not find their way to citizenship for one reason or another. It is not a spoiler to say the group doubles down on their efforts when they discover a women’s section of the facility, sending the equally brave Viridiana Martinez to help out in the same way. The longer they are in the facility, the more intense the stakes become and the more suspicion arises as their plan succeeds.
Not only does The Infiltrators capture an unbelievable act of selflessness that is hard to fathom, it presents it through inventive techniques that push the boundaries of what we expect from a documentary. If there are any areas where the film struggles, it is in the execution of the reenactments and the fading timeliness of the content. There are moments in some of the reenactments where you can not be completely sure how much the events are skewed by the viewpoint of the film – did the guards outright threaten a detainee’s family, etc. The events of the film also end before Trump was elected, so it is hard not to wonder how much the idealism of these young people was squashed by the more outwardly barbaric tactics of his administration. The latter is not a failing of the film, just a byproduct of the constantly shifting attitudes Americans have towards the undocumented. The activists featured in the film accomplished so much through an unyielding commitment to make a difference despite their lack of resources and opportunities. This is the type of story that is as inspiring as it is thrilling. It is a powerhouse of a film.
Video Quality
The Infiltrators comes to Blu-Ray in its original aspect ratio from a very strong high definition master. The film features a lot of different material in varying degrees of quality. The reenactments throughout the film have a very cinematic quality that is quite striking. The documentary footage appears a bit more inconsistent, but looks as technically excellent as it can look in high definition. The transfer appears to have plenty of room to breathe and there are no issues with compression artifacts, banding or other digital nuisances. The covert footage that was shot on the fly seems to be the best version of it that would be possible, with most of it looking pretty strong. Interview segments look sleek and clear depending on the filming conditions with natural skin tones and detailed facial features. The colors featured in the film are natural and vibrant as they provide a nice visual pop on screen. Black levels are appropriately deep and give way to a nice amount of detail in shadows. I do not see how this set could have been improved visually. It’s a beautiful transfer handled with care by Oscilloscope Films.
Audio Quality
This Blu-Ray comes with a stellar DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio track that captures this story perfectly. Dialogue is the driving force of the film, and it comes through crisp and clear without being clipped by any competing sounds. The filmmakers do a really great job of capturing their subjects and making sure all this information comes through with supreme clarity. Even audio captured secretly on cell phones come through pretty clearly given the recording conditions. The music and the score establish the mood of the film, and those sounds are resolved well here as music often sleeks throughout the room. The chatter in the public locations they chose to film in provides a nice base texture to the proceedings. Ambient sounds from traffic and other urban sources are precisely placed in the rear channels. The audio track is not pushed to the limit with this content, but it nonetheless proves to be an excellent sounding presentation for this feature. There are optional English, English SDH and Spanish SDH subtitles included for those who desire them.
Special Features
- Making of The Infiltrators: A nearly ten-minute audio interview in which directors Cristina Ibarra and Alex Rivera discuss why they decided to make this film, how the project evolved from a short film to a feature, why they needed to recreate the narrative to tell the complete story, how they developed the script for the recreated portions and more.
- Trailer: The two-and-a-half-minute trailer for the film is included that perfectly encapsulates the tone of the film.
Final Thoughts
The Infiltrators tells a story so unbelievable that you would swear it has to be pure fiction. It is true, though, and is all the more engrossing knowing the stakes that are on the line with every covert action. The way the film blends pure documentary with well-crafted reenactments allows the film to be something unique in cinema. Oscilloscope Films has delivered a Blu-Ray with a pretty choice A/V presentation and a compelling supplemental feature from the filmmakers. This is one not to be missed. Recommended
The Infiltrators is currently available to purchase on Blu-Ray and DVD.
Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.
Disclaimer: Oscilloscope Films has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.
Dillon is most comfortable sitting around in a theatre all day watching both big budget and independent movies.
