After crossing the border illegally for work, Miguel, a hard-working father and devoted husband, finds himself wrongfully accused of murdering a former sheriff’s wife. After learning of his imprisonment, Miguel’s pregnant wife tries to come to his aid and lands in the hands of corrupt coyotes who hold her for ransom. Dissatisfied with the police department’s investigation, the former sheriff tries to uncover the truth about his wife’s death and discovers disturbing evidence that will destroy one family’s future, or tear another’s apart.
Acting
Ed Harris's weathered grief is devastating without theatrics.
Cinematography
The Arizona desert becomes a character—beautiful and indifferent.
Writing
Refuses easy villains; everyone's complicit, everyone's suffering.
Director
Michael Berry
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Michael Berry wrote this after volunteering at migrant shelters in Arizona; the ICE guard subplot came from real testimonies.
Released the same year as increased border militarization debates, it was criticized by both sides for being 'too sympathetic' and 'not sympathetic enough'—which probably means it succeeded.
US
