Greetings again from the darkness. Immigration and the plight of undocumented workers is as relevant now as it has ever been. Writer-director Diane Paragas and co-writers Andy Bienen, Annie J Howell, and Celena Cipriaso have expanded Ms. Paragas' 2017 short film of the same name into her first feature length project. Although it covers some familiar topics, the film has a distinct look and feel to it ... the vision of an interesting new filmmaker as she provides a glimpse at the struggles and challenges facing undocumented folks, both young and older.

Eva Noblezaba stars as Rose Garcia, a 17 year old undocumented Filipino living in the outskirts of Austin in the hotel where her widowed mother (also undocumented) cleans rooms. This is Ms. Noblezaba's first film, and she's best known for playing Kim in the stage production of "Miss Saigon". Here, she's the teenage daughter of a very protective mother, and she spends her time trying to fit in at school, while also jotting down Country Music song lyrics in her Townes Van Zandt notebook, and strumming the battered guitar her late father gave her. Rose professes no interest in singing her songs for others, but that and everything else changes in one eventful night.

Elliott (Liam Booth),a friend in her class and an admirer of hers, invites her for night out in Austin at the Broken Spoke, "the last of the true Texas Dance Halls", where Austin Country Music icon Dale Watson is performing. An underage Rose over drinks, but also catches the performing "bug", and loves everything about the honkytonk atmosphere. The youngsters return to the motel just as ICE (Immigration and Custom Enforcement) is finishing up a raid, and are taking Rose's mother (Princess Punzalan) into custody. Rose's mother instructs her to seek shelter with her Aunt Gail.

Gail (Tony winner Leah Salonga) lives in an upscale Austin neighborhood - quite the contrast to the life Rose and her mother have been living. Gail is sympathetic to Rose's plight, but Gail's husband doesn't want to get mixed up with harboring an illegal. So Rose recognizes that she's unwanted and seeks refuge with Jolene (Libby Villari),the owner of Broken Spoke (Ms. Villari gives an excellent performance, though it should be noted that the infamous James White is the real life owner of the iconic dance hall). Jolene offers Rose a bed in a back room of the club, something a great many Austinites would pay handsomely for (maybe it should be an AirBnB!).

Dale Watson turns into a reluctant mentor for Rose, and the two write songs and perform together. Mr. Watson is a natural playing the on screen version of himself. There is a lot going on here, as this teenager from the Philippines proves she is strong-willed in both pursuing assistance for her mother, and in following her Country Music dream ... all while maneuvering through the obstacles of being undocumented. There is inherent racism in the film's title (Rose's nickname at school),but director Paragas never allows politics to override Rose's personal story.

Right, while the concept of the movie somewhat falls short of what I usually sit down to watch, I must admit that the 2019 movie "Yellow Rose" from writer and director Diane Paragas actually turned out to be a rather surprisingly good movie.

Normally I am not one that sits down to watch country-inspired movies, but I will say that the storyline told in "Yellow Rose" was actually a wide-spanning one, so it wasn't just about the country genre. No, this was a story about the bonds of family, being able to follow your heart and dreams and the willingness to take a chance. Actually there were multiple interesting aspects to the storyline, which made for a wholesomely entertaining movie.

"Yellow Rose" has a good ensemble of casted actors and actresses. I can't claim to have been familiar with anyone on the cast list, but they definitely put on great performances. Young actress Eva Noblezada, playing Rose, was really holding her ground and carrying the movie with a very strong and committed performance, one that had emotion and conviction to it. "Yellow Rose" also had a great performance by Dale Watson, playing Dale, as he really added something unique and interesting to the movie. And Princess Punzalan, playing Priscilla Garcia, definitely also put on a good performance, just a shame that she had so limited screen time.

This movie has a good variety of characters and dialogue, and you very easily get dragged into the storyline and forming a connection with the characters, so that was a good accomplishment from the writers.

I will say that the music for this movie was really complimenting the storyline and added a very enjoyable layer to the movie. Now, I am not one that listens to country music at all, but I will say that the movie they had for the movie was well-fitting.

This is definitely a movie that you should take the time to sit down and watch if you find yourself with the chance to do so. I was more than genuinely surprised and entertained by what writer and director Diane Paragas managed to deliver. My rating of "Yellow Rose" lands on a well-deserved six out of ten stars.

'Yellow Rose', the name of this film who's origin of how the name was given to the main character, Rose Garcia, not with the best intention at all. Rosé is an illegal living in Texas with her mom, always in fear of an ICE raid which creates constant tension. Her talent as a singer, however, gives her a chance of reaching the American Dream, and with the support of local country & western crooner Dale Watson, she gets just as close to attaining her dream as ICE gets closer to her and her mother. Writer/Director/Producer Diane Paragas does a deft job handling the cast, especially lead Eva Noblezada as Rose, is terrific. The entire cast is so committed to their performances, and the music is wonderful, especially Eva's vocal work (who was nominated in the same role in Miss Saigon as co-star Lea Salonga was!) A strong, hopeful though at times bittersweet story full of classic country & western songs and gritty, heartfelt performances by all!