"THERE IS NO IN BETWEEN"
You're either good or bad, right? Hm. This is the story about an immigrant named Claudia who gets deported from the U.S and is sent to Mexico to live with her father, who doesn't have a good relationship with his daughter. Claudia has the desire to make it back to her supposed homeland with her mother through hostile borders, but she must overcome personal conflicts through her journey that would test her the woman she really is: a criminal... or not.
Very few times is the independent film that feels like a big-budget one, specially a good one. Well, Hostile Border or Pocha: Manifest Destiny manages to be a well-told story with deep themes and one that features one of the most interesting and grounded female characters in the past few years. Emotional, intense, well-acted, and with controversial yet real subjects conveyed, this is one of the most impressive independent films with its tight script and direction. Here are the highlights of the movie!
1. Veronica Sixtos and her character
Rarely these days is the movie where the main protagonist is an excellently rounded character that gets interpreted flawlessly. Veronica Sixtos embodies the character so amazingly well that she actually achieves to make the character deep, human and believable. She captures the essence of the character and the story, reflecting the dark tone of the movie pretty nicely done. The duality of her character (Claudia/Pocha) is complex enough to be the standout of the movie.
It's not the typical "perfect and noble" character that's seen as the flawless hero; she actually feels like an anti-hero at times, and she challenges the audience to a psychological level. She has a constant conflict with herself because of her actions, reaching to the point where she finds a personal connection with the spectator: "Am I doing the right thing?". "Should I put my life first above others?". "Does it matter the morality level of my decisions?". Such a well-written and directed character, by fat the best thing about the movie... along with the stellar performance.
Sixtos gives her all in this movie, practically a scene-stealer. She has very little dialogue, but the way she delivers it is precise, she engages the audience in order to follow her to the last shot (which is simple but incredible). but it's not her dialogue that makes her shine: it's her facial expressions. She could have failed to the point where she probably would have exaggerated or just have a static face the whole time, but she doesn't. She gives a powerfully emotional performance scene to scene, and certainly it doesn't look like her last movie. This brand new actress is to be taken in consideration for strong characters, because she shows real potential.
2. Use of Music
I did not expect this element to be one of the substantial ones of this movie. Not that I'm comparing this film to the masterpiece of Birdman, but the use of the score in this movie resembles a lot to that movie. Why? It shows Claudia's internal conflict with the use of drums, specially in the scene featuring the image up there.
Furthermore, the use of electronic music set up the mood of the story effectively, which it feels like a supporting character to the tense sequences of the movie, as well as showing the flawed but credible characters of the story. It doesn't feel all over the place or overwhelming, which the editing could have failed in this aspect. No, the score is blooming, smart, and very well realized. Props to the editing, too!
3. Supporting Cast
This may be the weak point of the movie. As well as Sixtos outshines every other element of all the production team, the other actors don't exactly live up to the expectation, causing kind of an underwhelming sensation. Also, their marginally bland character designs don't help very much, coming off as convoluted characters in quite a few times, specially in the second half of the movie. However, it's not really that weak, because there are some bright spots, and when they're bright... they pay off.
The antagonist may not be totally intriguing for the most part, but he comes off as a very hard and believable obstacle to Claudia. He is the main cause of Claudia's duality as a character, making him a very important element to Claudia's depth and development, who is the driving force of the movie. Although his actions are always pushing the story forward, his motivations are... kind of messy. The way he connects to Claudia as well as he intents to go against the law is not really understandable because of his clouded beliefs and perspective about the hostile borders (he has a great line where he compares the environment to a zoo, which I'll talk about later).
Arturo is okay, feeling more like a character that Claudia must have a personal, serious relationship. I didn't feel attached to his character, and that's kind of a problem because his fate is supposed to feel greatly dramatic. Claudia's father is fine, sometimes coming off as irritating because of his stubborn yet somewhat unjustified personality. His connection to her daughter however ends on a satisfying note. On the other side, the grandma felt unnecessary at times, specially at the end, showing off as an over dramatic plot device. Although her lines are really deep, the she delivers the dialogue is stale and kind of emotionless and pale. Even though, this doesn't bring the movie down.
4. Cinematography and Direction
It's beautifully shot. Michael Dwyer has such a bright future as a director and a cinematographer in my opinion, because he convinces as a talented storyteller in his first full-length feature film. There is really not much else to say about this aspect of the film, because this film it's such a stunning visual achievement that putting more adjectives or compliments can't top the real experience of watching the movie and enjoying it. Every frame? Every camera movement? So smooth, perfect.
Personally, if I were to pick a cinematographer in a project, this guy would definitely be on my list!
5. Overall Tone
Although there is very little humor in this film, it doesn't need it. The dour and gritty tone actually makes it for a very enjoyable ride. Why? Because the editing is smart, it is very well paced. This movie knows when to slow down and when to go like a bullet, when to have a two-minute tension scene, and suddenly break it almost seamlessly.
This may not be a tone for everybody because it feels pessimistic but, while building layers upon layers throughout Claudia's actions, there is some light and hope hidden. The world is cruel and unforgivable, but it reflects each character so well, that a bright lightning and colorful landscapes wouldn't fit the the themes or the characters either. It helps the setting to feel realistic in a grounded plot.
6. Themes
I'm not gonna spoil this. There is such an incredible amount of meat in this aspect of the film, that the experience itself of watching the movie is really worth it. Exploring mature topics such as criminality, damaged relationships within the family, psychological duality of a person, people's behavior in hostile environments, and so much more, the movie executes the themes and interprets them so genuinely good and in a very subtle way, which is quite hard to do. "Are you, or aren't you a criminal?" "Now this place is like a fucking zoo". This last line was my favorite out all of them.
Overall, this is a very emotionally satisfying and surprisingly sophisticated story, featuring an outstanding main protagonist that it elevates the material of this film. The direction and the pacing is fantastic, as well as every technical characteristic (editing, cinematography, visual effects, sound). Although the protagonist is strong, the supporting cast is not able to top her or even be on par, not saying that their performances are bad at all: however, their slightly poor character designs don't hold up very well, coming off as the main obstacle to reach a perfect score. The majority of the second half is not as well constructed as the first half, but the dramatic ending makes it up.
The more I think about it, the more I love it. This is a 9/10 for me! I strongly recommend this movie (just so you know, it's R-rated because of the adult themes), I think it's re-watchable and really worth the time, it's a thinker and, sometimes, disturbingly emotional, which it doesn't reach to a depressing level, making this a very well-balanced story.
FIGURITAS!
So! What do you think of this movie? Are you excited? Leave your comment below!
Thanks for reading this post, hope you've enjoyed it! Good day!
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