With Donald Trump stoking fears about scary Others, and forever talking about building a border spanning wall to keep out illegal immigrants, there are some films that serve as a reminder of what the actual immigrant experience is like. There’s "Brooklyn," which beautifully conveys the sense of opportunity people around the world see in the country. And coming soon is Jonás Cuarón‘s upcoming "Desierto," which uses a heightened thriller structure to detail how border crossings are literally a life-and-death affair.
Starring Gael García Bernal, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, and Alondra Hidalgo, the film tells the story of a man desperate to reunite with his family in the United States, and joins a group crossing over from Mexico illegally. But soon they are hunted down by a killer who wants nothing but to keep them out. Here’s the official synopsis:
From Jonás Cuarón and Alfonso Cuarón, the acclaimed filmmakers of GRAVITY, comes a unique, modern vision of terror. DESIERTO is a visceral, heart-pounding suspense-thriller packed with tension and suspense from start to finish, starring Gael García Bernal (The Motorcycle Diaries and Y Tu Mamá También) and Jeffrey Dean Morgan (Watchmen). What begins as a hopeful journey to seek a better life becomes a harrowing and primal fight for survival when a deranged, rifle-toting vigilante chases a group of unarmed men and women through the treacherous U.S.-Mexican border. In the harsh, unforgiving desert terrain, the odds are stacked firmly against them as they continuously discover there’s nowhere to hide from the unrelenting, merciless killer.
Winner of the Special Presentations FIPRESCI Prize at TIFF, "Desierto" opens on March 4, 2016.
