Review: ‘Trade’ on DVD

“The CIA estimates that between 50,000 and 100,000 girls, boys and women are trafficked annually into the United States to be pimped out or sold for forced sex. Worldwide more than 1 million people are trafficked across international borders against their will.”

These are the words that appear on the screen as the film ends and fades to black. We don’t typically consider these types of crimes as a modern issue, but this movie takes us into a fictional portrayal of what is going on everyday, just under our noses and behind our backs.

Trade was directed by Marco Kreuzpaintner and tells the story of Adriana, a 13-year old girl from Mexico who is kidnapped and trafficked into the United States to be auctioned off to the highest bidder. Her 17-year old brother, Jorge, learns of this and sets out on a journey to find and rescue her. Along the way, he runs into an insurance fraud detective named Ray, played by Kevin Kline. Once Ray understands the situation, he decides to help Jorge locate his sister.

Trade is a gritty but tastefully non-graphic depiction of an evil too disgusting to think about, but this dramatic story helps to bring awareness to the subject. Performances from Cesar Ramos as Jorge and from Alicia Bachleda as Veronika, a polish twenty-something girl who also is being trafficked, but takes care of Adriana along their terrifying journey, truly make the film … as does Kline’s subtle performance as the distant detective with his own private, personal reasons for helping Jorge find his sister. My only beef with the movie, if any, would be that the “bad guys” aren’t made out to be nearly as cruel and horrible as one can only imagine they truly are in real life, as they must be to commit these crimes.

DVD Features:

• Director/Producer Feature Commentary
• Chasing Shadows featurette
• Paper to Print featurette
• Deleted Scenes
• More trailers from Lionsgate