Haunted by memories of her street life, a reformed gang member, and single mother embarks on a perilous mission to save her daughter from a predatory gangster whose grip threatens to pull them both into a relentless cycle of violence.

SYNOPSIS:

Smiley is a former gang member, and mother of Laughing Girl. Through a series of raw, emotionally charged flashbacks, we witness Smiley’s reluctant plunge into gang life at the hands of her former boyfriend, Chavo. The narrative reveals a cascade if events; drive-drug sales, robberies, and a horrifying incident where Chavo uses Smiley as bait in a violent ambush, leaving her pinned under the victim’s body. These experiences lead her from a juvenile detention into the hardened corridors of adult prison, where she becomes a mother only to lose custody of her child to a cold foster care system. Smiley has left gang life behind, including her relationships with various gangsters. Years later, after fighting to regain custody, Smiley is confronted with an even graver reality: her daughter, Laughing Girl, is on the precipice of being consumed by the same violent world she desperately sought to escape through her relationship with a predatory gangster named Mando.