Desierto (2015)

A group of people trying to cross the border from Mexico into the United States encounter a man who has taken border patrol duties into his own racist hands.

Director:

Jonás Cuarón

Writers:

Jonás Cuarón, Mateo Garcia

Stars:

Gael García Bernal, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Alondra Hidalgo

2 wins & 21 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Gael García Bernal	...	Moises
Jeffrey Dean Morgan	...	Sam
Alondra Hidalgo	...	Adela
Diego Cataño	...	Mechas
Marco Pérez	...	Lobo
David Peralta Arreola	...	Ulises
Óscar Flores Guerrero	...	Ramiro
Erik Vázquez	...	Coyote
Lew Temple	...	Border Patrol
Aquileo De Jesús Calihua	...	Migrant
Dionicio Roberto Avilés García	...	Migrant
Víctor Alfonso Zárate Mendoza	...	Migrant
Claudia Angélica Amador Castellanos	...	Migrant
Francisco Jhonnathan Toscano Usnaya	...	Migrant
Dolores Micaela Guzmán Méndez	...	Migrant

Storyline

A group of Mexican emigrants attempts to cross the Mexican-US border. What begins as a hopeful journey becomes a harrowing, bloody and primal fight for survival when a deranged, rifle-toting vigilante and his loyal Belgian Malinois dog chase the group of unarmed men and women through the treacherous borderland. In the harsh, unforgiving desert terrain, the odds are stacked firmly against them as they discover there's nowhere to hide from the unrelenting, merciless killer.

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Plot Keywords:

hunt | survival | desert | running for your life | vigilante | 

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Taglines:

From the Visionary Filmmakers That Brought You GRAVITY

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Genres:

Drama | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong violence and language

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official Site

Country:

Mexico France

Language:

Spanish English

Release Date:

13 April 2016 (France)

Also Known As:

Bienvenue au pays de la liberté

Filming Locations:

Baja California, Mexico

Box Office

Budget:

$3,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$514,282, 16 October 2016, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$1,828,933, 6 November 2016

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$1,607,334, 30 October 2016

Company Credits

Production Co:

Esperanto Kino, Itaca Films, CG Cinéma

Technical Specs

Runtime:

88 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Desierto is the Spanish word for desert.

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Goofs

Color of Jim Beam is wrong (too orange), and froths like sweet tea. A guy swilling whiskey from the bottle while driving is unlikely to have alcohol free beer (O'Doul's) in the cup holder. A guy drinking tea from a bottle and near-beer from a can is probably not a hardened killer. More likely an actor trying to stay hydrated and sober.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Adela: [reading from a book] Leaving is a form of dying.

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Connections

Featured in My Second Vote: Me-O-Mentary II (2016)

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Soundtracks

Land Of All
(uncredited)
Written by Woodkid

User Reviews

A Fight for survival in this Mexican tale of emigration

This film starts with a group of South Americans crossing into America in the desert. They are in a clapped out old truck that finally decides to die. Left with no option, the traffickers decide they have to take them on foot to the chosen land

Problem is there is a gun wielding vigilante on the loose with his tracker dog – inventively enough called 'Tracker', and this is his home and he aims to keep it that way. Gael Garcia Bernal stars as Moises in this and he is always good value. The supporting cast are all excellent too but the real plaudits have to go to Jeffrey Dean Morgan as the deranged Sam.

The other real achievement here is that it is a linear story with no flash backs and told in a way that all you have to glean empathy from are the players in the situation they are now. That is always a tough thing to do as we hardly know anyone and so finding a way to connect is not always so easy. This is overcome by good acting and allowing the characters to let each other know of themselves and by so doing we get to do the same. Whilst this is not the best in the genre of emigration to America films it is still more than able to warrant attention – in English and Spanish this is one for those who like their films to have one foot in realism.