Back in the 1950s the Salton Sea in Southern California was hyped as a vacation wonderland. It was marketed as an oasis in the desert. Land was offered for sale. Houses were being built. But that promise never came to fruition. Now there are scattered communities around the lake where fish are dying as the salinity grows and the lake shrinks. One of those communities is Bombay Beach. Filmmaker Alma Har'el takes us into Bombay Beach through three portraits: Red, an elderly former oilfield worker who serves as the film's philosopher; CeeJay, a young African-American teen with dreams of the NFL; and Benny, a child with ADHD and possibly bi-polar disorder, and his parents.

This is an area with no real industry. It is twenty miles to the next gas station. Even schools and doctors are some miles away. We may wonder why people choose to live here. Only CeeJay's reason is made known. He was sent here to live with his father after his cousin was killed in a gang slaying. The others all ended up here in some way, but it is now their home. No one here has an easy life. We may see them as surviving more than living, but Har'el makes it a point to show the various characters and others of the community dancing—each in their own way and frequently. In this we see that even in this setting that we may see as totally bleak, these people still have joy.

Making a film such as this that looks at some people living in seeming isolation is a challenge for a filmmaker. It may be tempting to find the oddest of the people around and use (or abuse) them for our amusement. Har'el does not do that. Even though there is some quirkiness in some of the people we meet, she treats them all with the respect they deserve. The best example of this is Benny and his family. We are told that his parents at one point lost custody of their children and went to jail for neglect. However, there is no judgment made of them as we watch their struggles with Benny's learning and behavioral problems. In fact, we even anguish with them over Benny's increasing medication.

This is a film of dreams and reality. The comparison of the promotional film about the Salton Sea we see at the beginning of the film is a sharp contrast to the reality that we see in the rest of the film. How does that compare to the hopes and dreams of those living in Bombay Beach? Have they seen their dreams turn to dust? Or are their dreams still awaiting fulfillment? Only CeeJay voices his dream: of a career in football. For the others we are left to ponder what dreams they have.

The film ends with those dreams still very much up in the air. However, the DVD includes a "where are they now" extra that visits all of these people since the film came out at festivals. We even see Benny on a trip to New York for the screening at the Tribeca festival. Bombay Beach takes us briefly into the lives of people living on the edge of our culture, but we discover they are far more like us than they are different from us. It is a reminder of our kinship to those around us.