East of Wall

A strong offering in the Biographical Narrative genre. Not as polished as Nomadland but it offers a window into the lives of those living in the "New West." As real and vulnerable as Yellowstone was manufactured and soapy.

The sound mix is energetic and creative as is the mix of cinematic and cellphone photography. There are some stunning cinematography. At times the narrative flow seems to thin into series of vignettes and some character arcs can thin out, but those elements resolve.

The themes of loss, grief, and overcoming through community and determination and living out one's life and call, are strong and the juice is certainly worth the squeeze. The mix of professional and amateur actors is truly impressive.

I saw East of Wall at a "Screen Unseen" event at my local theater. I hadn't heard of it before and went in completely blind, which I usually enjoy-but in this case, it didn't quite work out.

I found the movie hard to follow, both in terms of plot and pacing. It seems to center on a woman with a difficult past who trains horses and tries to move forward with her life. While the film clearly aimed to be emotional and character-driven, the storytelling felt disjointed and lacked enough clarity to fully connect with the audience.

On the plus side, the visuals were striking-the South Dakota Badlands made for a beautiful and atmospheric backdrop. The acting was generally solid, though nothing particularly stood out.

Overall, East of Wall had potential, but its narrative struggles kept me from becoming fully invested.

This film expands the kinds of people and narratives we tell about the West. These characters are real and wild and broken and complex humans who own their stories and are not exploited on screen by shallow screenwriting nor filmmaking. A moving, quiet, and textured portrayal of humans and familial love.

Still grieving the loss of her husband, Tabatha is struggling to keep her ranch afloat while managing her children and the other children she has opened her home to. The tables turn when an outsider offers her a way out, forcing her to re-evaluate her outlook and priorities.

An intriguing movie with potential and beautiful horses. There is one main story, with many different tangents, but none of them are given much detail or background. Most of the details of the stories are inferred based on the minimal dialogue. The one hour and thirty-seven minute runtime feels longer due to the slow pace of the movie and the dialogue being broken up by beautiful scenic shots and horse riding. It has the potential to be worth a stream.

This movie has a lot going on -- land, family; feminism; horse whispering; class commentary; grieving; abusive relationships and coming of age.

..all jumbled into utter realism.

It takes some patience to watch because the the plot arc gets almost lost after the halfway mark. There are so many characters (who kind of look alike) I kept getting confused. Most of the characters are inarticulate.

But this just adds to the realism. (It very much reminded my of my working class, rural youth) I was emotionally touched and satisfied in the end.

I was expecting the director to take the movie to some horrific, morally outrageous plot turn and she does but in a very clever way that isn't cheap shock.

It reminds me of those "urban realistic" films of the 70s but set in modern South Dakota rather than New York. The cast seem like real people, not actors, even though the movie isn't shot like a documentary.

These days, a number of producers are trying to make "the modern western" and this one succeeds.

If you can tolerate "realistic messiness" -- this movie is very rewarding.