Why don't we do something to ease the suffering of the poor, the excluded? Because we live in fear of "the other," the stranger. Filmed a few months before the 2004 presidential election, On the Road with Mary is a gripping view of an America living in fear. From a miserable neighbourhood in Detroit ravaged by crack and violence, to the militarized border with Mexico, this potent road movie exposes the unbearable other side of the American Dream.

Along the way, documentary filmmaker Monique LeBlanc introduces us to exceptional human beings deeply involved in their communities. Working on the fringes of the system, these low-profile rebels have taken it upon themselves to help society's down-and-outs. Poetic and political, personal and universal, On the Road with Mary inspires us to give some thought to compassion.