Realistic without the Hollywood ending tied up with a ribbon. The main character does win, but not in the usual "impossible goal achieved" way. She stays true to herself. She never caves to the Sweet smile of the brown eyed boy who is really not a good person. She lets the bank lender/land developer know how she feels unapologetically. And when she's unable to stop the title wave that's sweeping her orchard away from her, she takes the car keys and drives off into her new future. I don't remember the exact quote, but she turns to her aunt and referring to the multiple frustrations and difficulties says something like, "Does it ever stop? It's suffocating" Her aunt pretty much says no it doesn't. It just keeps piling up. You have to put on your boots and just muck your way through it. Realistic yet inspiring. I really liked it.

At the heart of the movie is the question, can this 16-year-old make an orchard work? If her skills and determination were the deciding factors, the answer would be yes. However, inexorable events say otherwise. The ending deprives the viewer of information she needs to settle her own mind about what happened. On one hand, the girl gets a $500,000 "cut" of the sale she does not want. Pretty good start in life! On the other hand, we do not get any idea of what percentage she got.

With a decent ending, the story could have been coherent and the viewer could forgive many of the faults noted in previous reviews here. But without that ending, the whole thing collapses.

Also, homage to identity politics is offensive whether you care about identity politics or hate it. The characters who matter are all white, but the movie makes sure to include a Black and a bunch of Latinos in the scenery. The women characters have some depth; the men are basically one-dimensional jerks. The single male character with some depth turns out to be the worst jerk of all, without real grounding of why.

Very hollow empty dramatic movie, not even remotely relatable for a non-american.