Identifying Features tells the story of Magdalena, a mother who embarks on a journey in search of her son who disappeared en route to the US border. Traveling through the foreboding towns and landscapes of northern Mexico, she mets Miguel, a young man recently deported from the United States who is making his way home. The accompany one another: Magdalena looking for her son, and Miguel eager to see his mother again in a territory where victims and aggressors ramble together. The poignant drama, set in the current Mexican humanitarian crisis, spotlights the country's failed war against the drug cartels, disappearances of migrants bound for the U.S. and the dangerous odyssey of those looking for missing family members.