After crossing into the U.S. with no family to speak of, young Cecilia finds herself in the charge of Francisco, a lonely Cuban immigrant long separated from his own family. Francisco operates a way station for border crossers on the outskirts of Lake Los Angeles, a surreal, desiccated lakebed in the California desert. While he copes with the alienation of living alone in a foreign land and the impossibility of realizing the American dream, Cecilia aimlessly wanders the dusty landscape, accompanied only by her fantastical imagination and distant memories of motherly love.

While serving a 33-year sentence, a spiritual awakening led drug lord Esteban Mendoza Cruz to form a church in Mexico's most corrupt prison. With a congregation of more than 600, Cruz sows hope both among inmates and in the community at large.