Yuma's Smile

Amani is a child of middle eastern immigrants, trying to escape the horrors of her home life. Amani hopes to the gain the approval of her abusive mom by doing well in school, but when her mom fails to show up for her high school graduation and berates her instead, Amani realizes that she will never get her moms approval. To make matters worse, Amani's father, a lifelong con artist, is released from prison and returns home.

Tired of the family atmosphere, Amani decides to be the change she wants to see and attempts to see her mother's life from her mother's perspective. After her mother is beaten and publicly shamed by her father's family, Amani learns the abuse and hardships her own mother faces. She lacks support from the very family she needs and instead is blamed for her family's misfortunes, including her husband's imprisonment.

In a hopeless turn of events, Amani's mother, unable to deal with the shame and trauma of her abusive husband and in-laws, attempts suicide, believing it's the only escape from her troubles. Amani and her sisters realize the severity of the situation and their mother's depression but are unsure of how to proceed. Amani decides to seek counsel from outside the familiar confines of their immigrant community.

To break the cycle that has plagued her family for generations, Amani must summon up all her bravery to help her mother and confront the issues causing her mother's depression and the rifts in the family. When her father is once again sent to prison, Amani and her sister convince her mother to divorce her husband and move on to a better life. With the black cloud of the family patriarch removed, Amani and her mother are able to see past each other's foibles and the hardships and restart a healthier relationship, based on mutual understanding.