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.

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.

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.

Watched at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival.

A simple slice of life tale about a women trying her best to go through the troubles in life is emotional journey. And director Kate Beecroft does a fantastic job on presenting a low-budget feature with strong nature performances from the cast, realistic characters and engaging writing.

Presented through a docudrama presentation, this slice of life narrative carries many good themes about family, the struggles, being a cowboy/cowgirl kind, and trying the best to navigate despite the harsh realities. Filmed with beautiful camerawork and nature dialogue, you begin to feel the connection and emotions the characters are going through. Whether they aren't perfect, the characters are interesting as they never came off as unlikable or boring.

All of the performances are good, the score is good, and there are some sequences that does hit right in the heart successfully. Reminds me a lot of Chloé Zhao which her works focus on the American natural landscapes.

Overall, I really liked this movie and I love to see this director make another movie someday.

There are some fine bits, especially in the first third, and those into horseflesh will likely appreciate the training, auction & rodeo sequences. The acting is uniformly good for an ensemble made up mostly of newbies. But the film's great potential is ultimately wasted. The mother's birthday encounter session is a genuine "jump the shark" disaster, which the conclusion can do little to rectify.