Andrew Morgan’s ‘Long Gone By’ is one of those small independent films that hits you big. It’s a story that is very relevant with what is going on the world today. Ana (erica Munoz) plays a mother who lives with her teenaged daughter in rural Warsaw, Indiana. She is undocumented, and a lawyer is helping her with her case, but they are now stuck in a situation where she has to go back to Nicaragua in order for her case to continue. She then finds out that her daughter Izzy has been accepted at the University of Indiana, and she has to scrounge for her tuition before she leaves, as they have exhausted everything to get her scholarship, and have gotten road block after road block because of their situation.

The film then becomes darker as Ana turns to crime, but your sympathies never leave her as you understand her desperation. I found myself empathizing with her, even as I realize the consequences of her action. Izzy finds a personal rejection of her own, when the boy she is attracted to betrays her when he finds out her plight. The film ends in a very optimistic note, though, as we see Izzy move to realize some of her dreams. I felt very emotionally connected to the characters and find myself thinking about them even after the movie ended. I really hope we see better days ahead regarding Dreamers – this adminiistration has been extremely cruel to them.