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Deadland
USA / Venezuela 2023
produced by Elizabeth Avellan, Bob Bastarache, Marsha Ann Larson, Norah Veloz, Jas Shelton, Lance Larson, Chris A. Wilks, Tara Pirnia, Fred Baker (executive), Chuck Larson (executive), John Shoemaker (executive) for Visit Films, Bridge Films, Eya Productions, Odd Man Out Films
directed by Lance Larson
starring Roberto Urbina, McCaul Lombardi, Julieth Restrepo, Kendal Rae, Luis Chávez, Chris Mulkey, Julio Cesar Cedillo, Manuel Uriza, Bryan G. Castro Recinos, Sydney Stepehnson, Julio César Cedillo, David Maldonado, Jared Kesler Smith, Christopher Dean White, Mikey Krammer, Orlando Pequeno
written by Lance Larson, Jas Shelton, music by Christopher Dean White
review by Mike Haberfelner
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A stranger (Luis Chávez) crosses a river trying to make it into the US
from Mexico, but almost drowns doing so, and he's really saved in the nick
of time by border agent Angel (Roberto Urbina), who then drops him off at
the outpost he runs together with agents Hitch (McCaul Lombardi) and Cruz
(Julieth Restrepo). Unfortunately, Hitch and Cruz accidently shoot the
stranger dead in a kind of kneejerk reaction. As Angel wants to help out
his colleagues, he orders the body to be secretly buried in the desert -
after all, the stranger's undocumented, and nobody even knows he has been
taken in apart from them three. So it really doesn't sound like the wrong
thing to do while they're at it. When Angel returns home to his wife
Hanbnah (Kendal Rae), he finds a man in their home, Ignacio (Manuel
Uriza), who might just be the father he has never known. He's addled in
his brain, sure, but quite some evidence suggests he's still his dad -
something Angel has difficulties to accept, also because he's still angry
at his dad for abandoning them back when. Another problem is, Ignacio is
an illegal immigrant. So soon enough, Angel has two Internal Affairs
officers (Chris Mulkey, Julio Cesar Cedillo) on his tail, and Hitch and
Cruz suspect it's because of the strangers they have buried. Weirdly
enough, Angel saves the stranger in the river again, and freaks his
colleagues out by bringing him in again. When they check the grave n the
desert, it's empty, too, but since half his had has been blown off, there
was no chance for him to survive his death - thing is, when they return to
the outpost, his cell is empty as well. Tensions mount and soon prove too
much for Hitch, who hangs himself. And still, that's not nearly the end of
it yet ... A pretty clever crime thriller that might not score
too high on the spectacle core, and definitely to the film's advantage as
the relative lack of action allows the film focus on its well fleshed out,
relatable if fallible characters, something only augmented by the film's
paranormal underpinnings and even political commentary, as border control
here becomes a very personal issue. And that the film's also solidly
directed and the small ensemble cast is giving it their all of course also
helps making this just a really cool and quite thoughtful movie.
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