Synopsis
Traces the relationship between Tina, a young Mexican trans woman, and Eliana, her grandmother, as they navigate Tina's transition and struggle to build a life for themselves as undocumented immigrants in New York City.
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Cast
- Carlie GuevaraTina
- Michael MadsenKevin
- Ed AsnerDr. Cleary
- Danny FlahertyOscar
- Anthony AbdoChris
- Alex KruzJason
- Tamara M. WilliamsCarol
- Dawn YoungMiriam
- Bernadette QuigleyDr. Brown
- Frances LozadaOfficer Gottilla
Recommendations
- 80
Film Threat
The Garden Left Behind is an amazing drama filled to the brim with realistic and heavy performances that will absolutely leave a lasting impression and subject matter that should more commonly be explored and celebrated. This film is special, and it deserves mass audience attention. - 75
The Film Stage
What’s mostly a vérité document of lead character Tina’s (Carlie Guevara) trajectory towards chemically transitioning from male to female despite being an undocumented immigrant in an expensive city like New York, Flavio Alves’ The Garden Left Behind is also a rather potent expression of humanity’s collective dysphoria. - 70
Film Threat
The Garden Left Behind is a melancholy but strangely optimistic look at the struggles that some in the Trans community face every single day. It’s not a perfect film, but it is a movie with a message of tolerance and understanding. For that, it should be praised. - 70
The Hollywood Reporter
The flaws in The Garden Left Behind should not prevent anyone from appreciating the rich, compassionate story Alves has brought to the screen with such assurance, or the heroine Guevara has brought to life with such realism. - 70
Screen Daily
Distinguished by a cast in which the trans characters are played by trans actors, the film effectively uses the trials of an individual life to illuminate the prejudices faced by a wider community. - 60
The Guardian
It’s not reasonable to ask that the film keeps Tina safe, but a sense from the start that things might end badly for her made me wince a little even during the lovely, authentic-feeling scenes of her life. - 50
Movie Nation
It’s introductory by nature, polished yet primitive, just like the films that dominated gay big screen storytelling long before the alphabetic expansion to “LGBTQ.” - 25
RogerEbert.com
The Garden Left Behind works best as a message movie, not for the community it’s set in but for everyone else.
