Heather Courtney's Letters From the Other Side, which Variety's John Anderson has described as "sensitive . . . effective and emotionally potent" as well as "a much-needed examination of the collateral damage of illegal immigration" is sadly informative. It is painfully frustrating to watch at times, but not for any lack in the documentary itself as much as for the heartfelt plight of its abandoned subjects. Letters From the Other Side is testimonial documentary that puts a human face on the individuals—wives, mothers and children—often neglected and betrayed by husbands, fathers and sons who have unwittingly succumbed to the lures and lies of exploitive globalization, only to become victimized themselves by unsurmountable circumstance. "Every year," William Goss writes for E-Film Critic, "statistics continue to rise as more fathers and sons make their way across the border from Mexico into the United States, in hope for providing a better life for their families back home. However, the harsh reality of the American dream comes to light when those who survive the journey are lucky enough to find jobs that barely sustain themselves, let alone their kin. Rural families separate only to find themselves in a financial and emotional stalemate, with children never seeing their fathers or brothers again, mothers never seeing their sons or spouses."
2006 SF DOCFEST—Letters From the Other Side Review