Desierto

Plot synopsis:
The film opens with a group of illegal Hispanic immigrants riding in the back seat of a truck somewhere in Mexico. They are driving towards the USA border when the truck breaks down. The drivers get out of the truck, pop open the hood and look at the engine. They don't seem to know what is wrong with the engine. They go to the back of the truck to speak to the immigrants. They ask if any of them are mechanics. A man, Moises (Gael Garcia Bernal) says he is and he gets out from the back of the truck. He walks over to the front of the truck to look at the engine, but he isn't able to fix it. So, the drivers tell all the immigrants to get out of the truck. They proceed to do so. The drivers point the immigrants towards America. They being walking across the desert towards America.Meanwhile, a man named Sam (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) is driving along a road with his dog, Tracker. They stop, and Sam goes hunting for rabbits. He is able to shoot a rabbit with his sniper rifle. The gunshot alerts the immigrants. They begin running and take cover in a field scattered with cacti and tumbleweeds. After they don't appear to see anything, they stop for a break. Moises notices one of the immigrant men trying to make a pass at a female immigrant, Adela (Alondra Hidalgo). Noticing that Adela is getting increasingly uncomfortable at the man's passes, Moises is able to distract him and stops him from going any further.Elsewhere, Sam is again driving along the road when he comes across a border patrol agent. The agent asks Sam if he has a permit. Sam asks him if he needs a permit to hunt rabbits. The agent says that he doesn't. Sam tells the agent that he reported earlier about some illegal immigrant tracks that he saw, and he asks the agent if he checked it out. The agent says he hasn't heard anything about it. Sam says "course not" to himself. The agent tells Sam, "Good luck on your hunt," but Sam tells the agent to keep that good luck to himself. Both men get into their trucks and drive away.Sam comes across the tracks again. He grabs his rifle and goes to look. He calls Tracker over to sniff the tracks, then tells him to go find them. Tracker takes off after them. At this point, the group has split off into two separate groups. One group is far ahead of the other. Moises and Adela are in the group that has lagged behind. However, Moises and his group spot Sam and Tracker from up on a hill. One man in Moises' group asks Moises if Sam is a cop/border patrol, to which Moises replies "no."Sam spots the group that is ahead. He tells Tracker to go back to the truck. Sam also goes back to the truck to grabs his sniper rifle. He goes and proceeds to kill all of the immigrants in that group, one by one, including the man who was earlier harassing Adela. After killing them all, Sam says "Welcome to the Land of the Free."Moises' group takes off in the opposite direction. Sam gets back into his truck and proceeds to cheer to himself. Tracker starts barking at the direction that Moises and his group was heading. Sam grabs his sniper rifle and looks in that direction, barely spotting Moises and the group heading over a hill. Sam and Tracker get back into the truck and begin driving in that direction. Sam comes to where the road ends. He gets out of the truck and tells Tracker to go find them. Sam follows on foot behind Tracker. Moises and his group are still running, knowing that Sam & Tracker aren't too far behind.Tracker catches up to one immigrant man, who is falling way behind. Tracker tackles him to the ground. Seeing this, Adela tries to help the man, but Moises stops her from doing so, knowing it is too late. Tracker proceeds to violently rip the man's throat out. After doing so, he takes off after the other immigrants. The remaining four immigrants begin climbing a rock mountain, desperately trying to lose Tracker. Tracker begins to climb as high as he can go, but only makes it partially up the mountain. He heads back and looks for another way up.Sam climbs another rock mountain and is able to get a view on Moises & his group. Tracker finds another way up the mountain. Moises and his group come to a point where they have to jump from one rock to another. Moises, Adela, and another immigrant man all make the jump, but the fourth immigrant is hesitant to jump. He takes his time trying to make it over, but when he spots Tracker behind him, he makes the jump. He doesn't successfully make it but is able to hold on to the rock. Moises tries to pull him up, but Sam fatally shoots the man with his rifle. He takes a shot at Moises, but misses.Sam goes back to the truck with Tracker. He looks at a map and tells Tracker to go do his thing. Tracker takes off after the final three immigrants. Sam gets back into his truck and begins driving. He comes to a canyon and stops the truck. He begins looking at his map again. Moises, Adela and the the third immigrant spot Sam in his truck, around the corner, but Sam doesn't see them because they are hiding in the canyon. Moises and the other two, go back the other way. Sam gets out of the truck and begins walking towards the direction that Moises and his group were heading. Moises and the group spot Tracker in front of them.They proceed to climb the canyon, desperately trying to get away from Tracker. It works, but Tracker alerts Sam. Sam begins to climb the canyon after them. The third immigrant, falling behind, spots Sam approaching behind him. Sam grabs his rifle to shoot the man, but the man loses his grip and falls several stories to the ground below. Moises and Adela hide in the rocks of the canyon. Tracker runs over and begins biting the man. Sam calls Tracker off of him. Afterward, Sam shoots the man in the head, killing him. Still hiding in the rocks, a teddy bear in Moises' backpack begins going off. Despite his attempts to silence it, it alerts Sam to their presence. Since it is almost dark, Sam tells Tracker that he will get them tomorrow. The sun sets for the night.The next day, Adela tries to look for Sam & Tracker's whereabouts. She spots Sam's truck from the top of a hill. She narrowly avoids getting bitten by snakes. Tracker senses her presence from the truck, so he takes off after her. Sam follows behind him. They get to the top of the hill and hear the teddy bear again. They find the teddy bear in a pit of snakes. It is a distraction as Moises & Adela make their way to Sam's truck. As Sam attempts to shoot them, he is graced by a snake, which he shoots. Moises and Adela make it to Sam's truck, avoiding his bullets. Moises grabs the antenna on Sam's truck and uses it to open the front door. They get into the truck, narrowly avoiding Tracker. Tracker begins to climb onto the truck. Moises is able to hot-wire the truck and takes off.Moises and Adela are happy that they have gotten away. However, Sam shoots at the truck, hitting Adela in the shoulder. This distracts Moises, and he ends up flipping the truck over. Moises climbs out of the truck and spots Sam climbing down a hill in the distance. Moises pulls Adela out of the truck. He also grabs a first aid kit that was in Sam's truck. Moises and Adela begin walking. Tracker takes off with Sam following behind him.Moises and Adela take shelter underneath a large cactus. Moises looks in the first aid kit and finds a flare gun inside it, along with some bandages. He uses the bandages on Adela. He takes the flare gun and leaves Adela by the cactus. Sam and Tracker begin to close in on Adela by the cactus. But, Moises uses his flare gun. Sam and Tracker take off after Moises because Sam thinks Adela probably doesn't have long to live (not knowing that she has got medical supplies from his first aid kit).Moises makes it to a cactus field and begins crossing it. Tracker also crosses through it. Moises stops and loads the flare gun with a second flare. As Tracker gets close, Moises shoots Tracker in the mouth with the flare. Sam, hearing Tracker's cries, runs towards him. He is too late as Tracker is dying. He shoots Tracker in a mercy kill and begins crying, saying that he's sorry. This further angers Sam and he begins shouting to Moises that he's a dead man.Moises spots a border patrol vehicle in the distance. He shouts at it but is not able to signal it in time. Sam spots Moises and shoots at him, but since Moises is right near a cactus tree, Sam hits the cactus tree. Moises takes off and Sam shoots at him again and misses a second time. Moises begins climbing another rock hill, avoiding a couple more shots from Sam. This leads to a five-minute cat-and-mouse sequence as Moises tries to escape from Sam at the top of this one massive rock mountain. Moises continually hides from Sam, until Sam stops at the edge of one of the cliffs of the mountain. Sam looks around for any signs of Moises. Sneaking up behind him, Moises tackles Sam off the mountain. Both men hit the side of the mountain and roll down it.Sam is injured. He looks down at his leg and sees that the bone on his right leg is sticking out through the skin. However, Moises appears to be fine. Both look over and see Sam's sniper rifle about twenty feet away from both of them. Both men get up and attempt to run to it. Moises is able to get the rifle. Sam pleads with Moises for his life. Moises chooses not to shoot Sam, but decides to leave Sam to die in the desert, despite Sam's pleas for Moises not to leave him.Moises begins walking again. He walks back to where he left Adela. He gets her to her feet and walks with her on his back. He carries her for miles, throughout the rest of the day. As it begins to get dark, Moises notices some lights ahead from some shacks and/or buildings, implying that they are near a town. The camera pans across the desert as the credits roll.

Tags: murder

Review:
Desierto is a movie that tries to tackle a very serious topic with a handful of caricatures and two very good actors which are lazily directed.
From a purely technical stance it tries to offer up some captivating shots during its first couple of minutes but it becomes quite clear as the movie progresses that Quaron does not know how to shoot a chase sequence, which this movie basically is.
An edge of the seat film, that tackles illegal immigration across the U.S Mexican border.
A simple, yet powerful story that made me re think illegal immigration, long after I had finished watching the movie.
This movie could not have been released at a better time, due to its subtle message on illegal Mexican immigration.
"Desierto" boasts actors that clearly have talent, the actual production of the film is decent as is the cinematography of the beautifully brutal desert.
However, this film is poorly directed, predictable and shallow, and the premise is laughable--An American picks off illegal immigrants crossing off the boarder.This film beats the audience over the head with its narrative, it tries to ignore the actual legality of illegally crossing the boarder by making the viewer feel "bad" for those doing so.
Each year, thousands of Mexicans cross that border into the U.S., oftentimes illegally but for very legitimate reasons: a better life, and to escape from the violence being caused by the drug cartels in their country.
The latter aspect is what is given attention in director Jonas Cuaron's film DESIERTO (Spanish for "desert").Cuaron, who with his brother Alfonso wrote the screenplay of the masterful 2013 science fiction movie Gravity, had directed a couple of short films (ANINGAAQ; THE SHOCK DOCTRINE) and one feature-length film (2007's YEAR OF THE NAIL) before DESIERTO; and in taking on the subject matter here, he steps into a topic that has both human and political dimensions.
Gael Garcia Bernal and Alondra Hidalgo are among a group of immigrants fleeing northward through the harsh Sonoran Desert when the truck they are in breaks down in salt flats, and the ride stops for them.
But not long after they cross, they are set upon by a gun-toting vigilante (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) with a very racist view who is determined that no Mexicans get across the borderat least, not if he has anything to say about it.
The viciousness Morgan displays is matched only by that of "Tracker", his German shepherd dog who happens to be good at tracking the immigrants.
At one point Hidalgo is so badly wounded that Bernal must leave her under a desiccated cactus with a supply of water while he tries to evade or stop Morgan.With most of the dialogue in Spanish (and with sub-titles on the screen) and the fact that all of the actors, save for Morgan and Lew Temple, who plays a Border Patrol agent, are Mexican, DESIERTO can sometimes be a test to watch; and certainly the violence and language are extremely harsh.
Beyond those things, Cuaron, a native of Mexico himself, also seems to take an arguably very slanted view of the situation by painting the Mexican immigrants as common people who, practically by force, are forced to make so dangerous and illegal a crossing of the frontier, and by making Morgan the right-wing vigilante villain of the piece.
But given how much immigration at the U.S./Mexico border, illegal and otherwise, and the issue of drug cartels creating violent havoc on either side of that border has been a hot-button issue in American politics for decades, and certainly in the ultra-toxic environment of the 2016 presidential election, it probably shouldn't be too surprising that Cuaron does indeed take the viewpoint that he does, especially given how often Mexicans have been made scapegoats in the U.S. media and by politicians, particularly by one Donald Trump.
And even at that, there is no reason to believe that situations like the one depicted in DESIERTO have not happened for real on the border; they just don't make it onto the news.DESIERTO thanks to Cuaron's direction and the desolate score by Woodkid, has a lot of similarities to the classic Sam Peckinpah and Sergio Leone westerns of the late 1960s and early 1970s in how it depicts the extreme harshness of the border country, with Bernal's and Hidalgo's performances being quite good and Morgan giving a very frightening performance in an arguably stereotypical vigilante role.
While DESIERTO may not be an absolutely perfect film, or easy to watch, and could incite passions both pro and con on the issue of immigration at our southern border, in the end it is a human story about desperation and how what goes on at the border transcends political grandstanding and a perversion of human values..
Desierto stars Gael Garcia Bernal, and Jefrey Dean Morgan, and its the story of some immigrants (including Gael Garcia Bernal) going to the U.S, but in order to go there, they need to cross the border.
The movie does not take the time to develop the characters, so we don't care about them, making the film feel bland and boring.
The blood and gore looked really cheap, there is rarely any logic in this film, characters do things without explanation and understanding and overall, just a boring movie with absolutely no character depth.
Bernal and a few others attempt to flee the crazy racist before they're left to rot in the desert.This film pretty much had no script.
This was confusing, considering how much he was defending his land from migrants, yet he wanted to leave the Hell that he was living in.Also, when one watches a film in a packed theatre and people are laughing at important scenes, then either something was lost in translation, or the movie is a farce, and this movie wasn't lost in translation by any means.
Feel like I need an explanation about this.While it was shot in a decent way, one hopes that Jonás Cuarón pieces together a better script in the future..
It is basically the same plot and story line of any "slasher movie"--only in this one, JDM uses .300 WinMag and not a butcher knife.I thought the movie was well acted by Jeffery Dean Morgan and Gael Garcia as the protagonists.
The dialogue was insipid at times, but the overall tension created by Morgan's character and more so, by Tracker, his dog, was excellent.If you want to get ready for Negan in The Walking Dead (also played by Jeffery Dean) then I recommend you watch Desirio as a warm-up..
There is a raccoon who appears for around three seconds in the movie that I swear was more interesting and potent than anyone else in the movie.The performances, just to add to the shameful mess that is this movie, are fairly poor, save Jeffrey Dean Morgan as the unmotivated, psychotic murderer that randomly comes across a group of survivors and decides to start killing them.
We might hear stories of people trying to cross the US-Mexico border, but people who don't attempt it have no idea what it's like.
Instead of a maniac killing the illegal immigrants creeping across the border its the political and government that's murdering the journey of the refugees.
Very good well thought out and put together film.The shooter Sam is an extreme typical stereotype by the left, all the Minute Men in the south report such illegal immigration to authorities they don't shoot them.Commenters were right about the M!
This film starts with a group of South Americans crossing into America in the desert.
The supporting cast are all excellent too but the real plaudits have to go to Jeffrey Dean Morgan as the deranged Sam.The other real achievement here is that it is a linear story with no flash backs and told in a way that all you have to glean empathy from are the players in the situation they are now.
Desierto is a good entertaining movie with a story that makes you think about how some people are just evil to the bone.
Jeffrey Dean Morgan does an excellent job playing the racist border controller with his loyal but lethal dog.
For the rest the story is what it is, illegal immigrants being chased by a racist killer.
Whether you think the people crossing the border are doing the right thing or the guy not letting them off the hook so easy is the one who's right, do not forget: We're talking human beings here.
A movie that is worth watching and is important but it forgot to add character development.
Good luck." Moises (Bernal) and a group of Mexicans are headed to America to start a new life.
I think the movie takes into account the fact that this is such a hot button issue that it assumes the audience knows the character motivations.
there needs to be a sequel (John Wick style) and while I don't necessarily agree with killing off illegals (or any "human"), the main character alerted border patrol BEFORE he decided to go hunting and border patrol didn't bother to relay his call to the officers on duty.....had border patrol done their jobs-the killing probably wouldn't have happened and those people would be alive in a detention center awaiting a trial date-or dead because of the coyotes mis-direction).......I don't see any innocent people in this film, they're ALL criminals!
As a film director I found the movie simple and great, interesting mix.
Desierto tells the tale of a pack of immigrants besieged by a frustrated patriot who is picking them off one by one as they attempt to cross the border.
People trying to reach the United States are shot dead by Sam (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) a pure racist and he is helped by his dog Tracker.
Say what you like about illegals coming to the United States, but this story is way over the top.
I only watched to be sure that Sam got his in the end as we had the feeling that Moises (Gael Garcia Bernal) would find a way to end Sam.Don't talk to me about production values, the acting, the cinematography, this is just wrong and it should not have been made.
And frankly, I liked that about it.There's a lot of people mentioning the political innuendo in the movie, and of course I started this review with a Donald Trump joke that didn't help things, but I think that it's only there if you want it to be.
However, the fact remains that whether people like it or not, this is happening all the time and so is a very realistic framing device for a film.
It's actually quite ironic that people are reading so much into it in that way, because when the film ended I thought to myself that the only thing letting it down was a message and some depth.
There are a few good points here, lets go with making a movie about the border jumpers and some of their possible experiences.
Do any of you here, who have somehow found it necessary to praised this bland, sorry movie, have any clue of what you might think a person would do before going off to cross "the border" and attempt to infiltrate to the good ol' USA?
I realized once I saw the movie was about Mexicans trying to cross the broader.At first I was not too disappointed, once I saw that Jeffery Dean Morgan was in this.
I like Jeffery Dean Morgan, although I started to dislike him more as the movie progress.
Moises (Gael García Bernal) is crossing the American-Mexican border with a group of other illegals.
Moises and the remaining survivors are pursued by Sam and his dog.It's a simple man hunting man movie.
The hapless runners are all Mexicans fleeing poverty - on their way to the USA via the 'back door' of the badlands (Donald's wall would actually have helped them!) and the Hunter...well, he's somehow just driving around the desert looking for people to murder.
Only a famous movie-making father (Alfonso Cuaron) could fund this, his son Jonas Cuaron's minor attempt at fame - surprisingly, this was Mexico's entry as 'best' foreign language film at 89th Acadamy Awards (must have been a very light year indeed!) Lovers of mindless excitement won't be too disappointed - thinkers can expect to be..
Racist white man shoots people trying to cross the border.
I felt little sympathy for them, other than the obvious - because they were so one-dimensional - and the murderer isn't really any better - which leaves for a movie you only watch to the end because your favourite actor is in it..
I saw "Desierto", starring Gael Garcia Bernal-Mozart in the Jungle_tv, Letters to Juliet; Alondra Hidalgo-This is her first movie; Lew Temple- The Walking Dead_tv, The Devil's Rejects and Jeffrey Dean Morgan-Negan on The Walking Dead_tv, The Losers.This is a movie about illegal immigrants from Mexico crossing the border into the United States.
That is when they cross paths with Jeffrey, a good old boy, driving around in his pick-up truck-with a Rebel flag, of course, so you will know he is a racist-drinking his whiskey, with his rifle and hunting dog named Tracker, in case you had any doubts about what kind of dog he was.
Nothing much happens aside of what you see in the trailer: a psychotic madman spots some illegal Mexicans attempting to cross the border into the U.S. and he decides to take matters into his own hands, by killing them all with his rifle.
What might feel like somewhat of an anti-climactic spoiler is that THAT IS IT -- Nothing more happens in the film.If you expect some kind of explanation to the villain's motivation to kill the Mexicans, there is none.
If you think that at least there is an interesting story behind some of the illegals that are trying to reach U.S. soil, nope, sorry, you won't get an interesting story there either.Instead, what the script does is basically repeat itself: once the first shootout takes place, we're left with 5 characters the villain still has to chase after.
Then, the villain's dog takes care of murdering one of the 5 left (quite easily and without much struggle from the poor Mexican fellow, I might add), which leaves 4.
you guessed it, story starts all over again, and the maniac with the rifle and his demonic dog start tracking them, AGAIN, even though they had already tracked them the day before, but got too tired to finish the job, which (if they had finished it) would have also made the film a short film.And so, the suspense moments of the piece have its highs and lows, some feel so ridiculously low that people at the theater started laughing (can't blame them).
The context of illegal immigration and persecution are an attempt to make the story contemporary and provocative, but it is not a very entertaining movie..
The opening scene of "Desierto" is filmed in a quasi documentary style with a dozen illegal immigrants seeking to cross into the United States across the Mexican Border.
But suddenly, a psychopathic killer and his efficient tracking dog begin to hunt down the defenseless people, knocking them off one by one.A man and a woman are the only two survivors, and the long final stretch of the film is the cat-and-mouse game played on the desert.While "Desierto" may have provided one of the most nefarious villains of recent memory, the film itself is not memorable at all.
Desierto is about Mexican immigrants crossing the border to start a new opportunity for a better life.
Moises (Gael Garcia Bernal) is traveling with a group; he is looking to cross the border illegally to go home back to his son.
Otherwise, Desierto is an effectively good thriller film that has worthy performances; intense cat and mouse hunt chases, and a decent characterization.
DESIERTO (2016) *** Gael Garcia Bernal, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Alondra Hidalgo.
Garcia and Hidlago attempt to cross the border from Mexico to he USA but encounter a huge snag in the form of a drunken, hell-bent, racist sniper (Morgan, ever hissable) who takes on his own one-man (and one dog) crusade to stop all immigrants from making it to the promised land in Jonas Cuaron (son of filmmaker Alfonso)'s tough-to-watch but never-the-less taut and tense thriller with enough deployed action, graphic violence and underscored humanity (thanks to his script with Mateo Garcia) to keep the viewer on edge and clear-eyed in rooting for the film's hapless heroes to a safe passage (you will never again wish for a dog to be killed in a movie after seeing this movie too)..
Manny's Movie Musings: Mexicans illegally crossing into the United States are hunted and killed by a sadistic American (played by Jeffrey Dean Morgan) and his bloodthirsty dog.
Equipped with a scoped, high-powered rifle, an off-road pickup truck, a well trained dog, and plenty of supplies, Morgan seems to be unstoppable in "Desierto"until he goes up against two illegals played by Gael Garcia Bernal and Alondra Hidalgo.
Although the movie touches on some current topics in the U.S., "Desierto" is predominantly a story of a psycho taking out mostly innocent people.
My most memorable, movie moment of "Desierto" is **SPOILER ALERT** the scene when Morgan comes upon what Bernal did to his dog.
The Desert - El Desierto: GoodTragic movie.
Saturday, 15 October 2016: I decided to see the movie; "Desert/Desierto" starring talented Mexican actor Gael Garcia Bernal and American actor Jeffrey D.
Morgan who looks a lot like Spain's star, the talented Javier Bardem who is married to pretty actress Penelope Cruz.The movie is good and well acted by Gael who is running for his life in the desert with the last survivor, Mexican actress, Alondra Hidalgo as Adela.
I also wonder what the law says about shooting an illegal alien crossing US border like that.