Featuring an ethereal tone and stark black-and-white cinematography, Live Cargo is set on a small island in the Bahamas that is being torn in two. On one side is a dangerous human trafficker using stolen boats to move Haitians to the United States, and on the other is an aging patriarch, struggling to maintain order. This is the situation grieving couple Nadine and Lewis move into when they journey to the island, hoping to restore their relationship after the tragic death of their newborn child. They soon discover that, no matter how hard they try, nothing on the island is untouched by the effects of human trafficking. Dree Hemingway (Starlet, While We’re Young) and Keith Stanfield (Straight Outta Compton) give fantastic, nuanced performances as Nadine and Lewis, while Robert Wisdom (The Wire) anchors a strong supporting cast. Director Logan Sandler keeps an impressively keen grip on the tone of his debut feature, which is suspenseful and poignant in equal measures, all the while maintaining a sharp focus on the small details of everyday life in the Bahamas.

—Cara Cusumano