Watch Under the Same Moon

Under the Same Moon tells the story of illegal immigrant Rosario and her nine-year-old son Carlitos. Rosario is a single mother who is devoted to her young son Carlitos. When Carlitos is only five years old, Rosario risks her life to cross the border between Mexico and the United States, in order to make enough money to give her son a better life than he has had in Mexico. At the time most of the story takes place, Rosario has been working in America for four years.

For Carlitos, four years is much too long a time to be separated from his mother. Yet her gifts do improve his life. While Carlito’s friends wear worn out shoes, his mother is able to send him brand new shoes and $300 each month.

For Rosario, however, life is very difficult. When her employer refuses to pay her for the work she has done, she cannot go to the police for help, because of her legal status. Therefore, she must accept the loss. She struggles to find work and, even more, with being away from her son.

When he tells her he misses her, she tells him to look at the moon, because she will be looking at the same moon. This way, she says, he will not be so sad.

While Carlitos appreciates his mother’s gifts, he misses her greatly and longs to cross the border to be with her. When his grandmother dies, he pays two smugglers to transport him over the Mexican-US border; however when their car is impounded, Carlitos is separated from the smugglers and left to fend for himself.

After dodging the INS, narrowly escaping being sold to a pimp, working odd jobs and being abandoned time and time again by those he falls in with, Carlitos finally makes his way to Los Angeles where he is reunited with his mother.