A portrait of a community, and family, in flux, Monica Sorelle’s feature debut “Mountains” is a deceptively low-key, but nevertheless textured, exploration of Miami’s Little Haiti community and the effects of gentrification on immigrant families. Narrowing in on one family as they navigate a grinding day-to-day existence with dreams of, perhaps, owning a house big enough to fit their family and artistic pursuits, Sorelle’s film juxtaposes the intersections of individual and communal progress, keying into the tension that exists between the two.  
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She mainly accomplishes this by following Xavier (Atibon Nazaire), a construction worker whose day job is demolishing houses to make way for luxury developments. Each day, after work, he drives past a cute bungalow that’s for sale, imagining a possible life where he, his wife Esperance (Sheila Anozier), and their 20-something son Junior (Chris Renois) can have enough space to comfortably exist.  
While the film foregrounds Xavier’s point of view, the camera also follows Esperance and Junior at key moments, filling out their lives. Esperance balances her work as a school crossing guard with a side-business sewing and making dresses. Likewise, Junior’s job as a valet belies his real interest in stand-up comedy (Renois is a comic and brings a sense of realism to these sets). Yet these artistic pursuits are necessarily backgrounded in favor of jobs that can actually pay the bills.  
“Mountains” is strongest when showcasing the family’s daily lives and how the rapid transformation of Little Haiti is erasing whatever sense of cultural community that existed prior. When Xavier and Esperance finally go to an open house, they are all but ignored by the real estate agent’s assistant, who gives more time to the white couples that arrive after them. At a party with his extended family, Xavier is even asked if he would destroy a cousin’s house if he was asked to. His answer, unsurprisingly, is rooted in some self-interest, as he tries to ignore the connection between the changing community around him and his own work.
However, the film also continues expanding, encompassing more subplots than its 90-minute runtime can sometimes fully account for. These include Xavier’s boss’s racism, Junior’s inability to move out of his parent’s house, and the tension between Xavier and his brother-in-law, a rich car salesman who rubs his wealth in Xavier’s face. These sections often seem like vignettes, perhaps part of a larger thematic canvas, but while some of these threads land, others seem to be stacked subplots that the film isn’t particularly interested in fully developing. 
This is particularly true of Xavier’s tension with his son, which at first seems to be a major conflict, but is never given the proper room to breathe, as Sorelle prioritizes vibes over neat resolutions. Even with these, it’s honestly refreshing that “Mountains” has a lot to say about displacement and what development even means. The film continues to hammer home its central notion: communal ‘progress’ is often at the expense of the communities themselves. While luxury apartments, shops, and country clubs might help raise property value, they also destroy the character that made these communities singular in the first place.
With that, the film’s final shot is a stunning reminder that Xavier’s dreams of financial stability are nevertheless intertwined with his career helping to erase his own community. He’s both the victim of gentrification and the capitalistic myth that if one works hard enough, they, too, can achieve the American Dream. Sorelle may not offer much hope in terms of how one can fight against these systems that preach continual change, but her film is still a striking if slightly overstuffed, debut from a filmmaker to watch. [B+]
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