Roads of Fire review (2025)

Roads of Fire is a gripping, emotional look at the global migration crisis.

The subject matter doesn’t make Roads of Fire an easy, feel-good documentary. Director Nathaniel Lezra offers glimpses of hope through the stories of those seeking the opportunity to lead a better life for their families — whether through education or jobs or merely safety from violence — and those on the frontlines tirelessly trying to aid those efforts.

Lezra tells the story from various perspectives in his efforts to offer a comprehensive look of a migrant’s journey to safely make it to the United States and the even tougher challenge of staying in the country.

Roads of Fire kicks off with Jonathan, a smuggler who helps migrants get to the US. Jonathan doesn’t pretend that he’s on some noble quest. He helps migrants on their hazardous and danger-wrought journey largely to provide for his family. Jonathan has an equally refreshingly honest approach of his interactions with cartels and local police to grease the wheels for safer passage.

Lezra then turns to Maria Pascal, who becomes the heartbeat of Roads of Fire. Maria tells her heartbreaking story of escaping from a horribly abusive relationship for the safety of herself and her two sons, Axel and Alex. After a dangerous trek to the US, Maria has to take on another daunting task of getting seen by an asylum board and revisiting her trauma that led to her seeking asylum.

Roads of Fire avoids taking sides in the political aisle — Lezra includes a clip of Ronald Regan touting America’s willingness to embrace and welcome immigrants as one of its greatest strengths contrasting with Trump threatening to build a wall to stop immigrants from entering the country.

For viewers with an open mind, Roads of Fire will often be a frustrating watch in the sense that it seems counterproductive to the myth of the American Dream to prevent people trying to protect their children from entering the country off of baseless fears and xenophobia.

Next is another group preparing to make the harrowing journey to the US. In a savvy bit of storytelling, Lezra has Maria recall her journey to the United States and weaves those memories with segments on the group preparing to follow along her treacherous path. There is an ominous cliffhanger regarding the group’s fate that Lezra thankfully does address before the end of the film.

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Lezra shifts to the other side of this dynamic where a group of humanitarians and volunteers do their best to ensure the new arrivals are cared for as best as possible. In some cases, that means getting up early in the morning to prepare meals before heading to their day jobs.

One of the more engaging talking heads is Adama Bah, the founder of Afrikana, a group designed to help New York immigrants acclimate to the US. Bah wrote a book detailing her arrest at 16 as a black Muslim in the wake of 9/11 (Check out Accused: My Story of Injustice on Amazon) and is a fierce advocate for immigrants’ rights. Bah bottom lines the migration issues in New York citing inefficient government management and the financial conflicts with an industry that accounts for over $40 billion.

Mammad Mahmoodi is equally unfiltered in calling out the questionable choices made by decision makers who want the good optics of helping migrants, but don’t want to truly make the changes and effort to truly support immigrants. The former tech entrepreneur is a fixture at EVLovesNYC, a group that provides meals to immigrants arriving in New York. Mahmoodi works with Sasha Allenby, who is less fiery with her calls to action, but is equally passionate about aiding immigrants.

Roads of Fire is just shy of two hours, but as is often the case with documentaries, the momentum slows. Lezra probably will need an update or a sequel to explore the impact on immigrants in this current political regime, but this initial take offers plenty of thought-provoking takes on the need for a lot more empathy and humanity to properly address the migrant crisis.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10

Photo Credit: Lezra Films

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