This 2025 drama film by Max Silverman explores the human spirit, via the 2018 San Luis Valley area wildfires popularly known as the Spring Creek Fire.. It centered on a recently divorced horse rancher, "Dusty" brilliantly played by Josh O'Connor. This film can be interpreted about material culture versus land and life necessities and needed instructional support. The importance of community and interdependency using its storytelling with beautiful acoustic music by Southern folk guitarist, Jake Fusell. Its visuals are full of vast skylines and stretched landscapes - Mexican cinematographer by Alfonso Herrera Salcedo lends his magic talents to the story. In the story, "Dusty" loses everything from an entire home and it's materiality finding himself in a makeshift community (funded by FEMA) of other people who lost everything as well. This encampment is part of the film's magic where many other characters from elderly, children, married couples to a Native American family.
In actuality since San Luis Valley stretching from Colorado to New Mexican territory, many Latinx families along with indigenous population were ravished and still needing institutional support for them to get value of loss which not really explored with this film.
Another aspect of this poignant story, the relationship between father (Dusty) and daughter, "Lucy" played by Australian actor, Lily LaTorre. This film really can help others to see how a natural disaster can impact people's lives when still no support. Many people are still trying to rebuild since those Wildfires since 2018 other places like California had experience loss due to fires. Interesting enough that the film's director, Walker Silverman is a Colorado native and Amy Madigan played as "Lucy's" grandmother.
