Did I ever tell you about the time Phillip and I walked into Mexico?

On the Border

Okay, before I start the movie review, here’s the short version: We took the trolley from San Diego south to the border, over this elaborate pedestrian bridge with tall metal turnstiles. On the other side was a Mexican soldier with a big gun just kind of hanging out there, not checking anyone’s papers or even making eye contact. We stepped off the bridge into a super sketchy part of Tijuana, rolling suitcases bumping along behind us, trying not to get robbed (or worse) while we looked for a bus where there wasn’t any.

I don’t recommend that particular way to see Mexico.

There are some lovely parts of Tijuana, but the border draws danger, making the city swell with the pressure of desperate outsiders.

Over the Line

The film Hostile Border begins, not on the border, but in Illinois, where it plunges you immediately into the world of the ambitious main character, Claudia. Minimal exposition. No flashbacks. It moves quickly and lets you fill in the gaps.

After Claudia’s history of credit card fraud and undocumented status catch up with her, she is deported – through another metal turnstile in a Tijuana port of entry – into Mexico, where she has little connection and even less knowledge of the language.

One thing the film does explain outright is the meaning of its working title, “pocha”, slang for “a Mexican American who can speak little or no Spanish”. It can also refer to something rotten. The first definition definitely applies to Claudia. Whether the second one does is a question posed throughout the film in various ways.

Does committing crime mean you are a criminal? What happens after you cross the line?

Veronica Sixtos’s performance as Claudia is so compelling you don’t miss words during her long stretches of silence, yet she conveys emotion and inner conflict subtly enough to be consistent with the character’s guarded nature.

Hostile Border is about the people who build fences to protect themselves, and the ones who believe crossing them is worth the risk. It pulses between the genres of thriller and western with moments of intensity balanced by scenes with room to reveal the complicated relationships between layered characters.

Inspired in part by conversations with actual deportees, this debut feature film for both director/cinematographer Michael Dwyer and writer/co-director Kaitlin McLaughlin won the 2015 the Audience Award at the Los Angeles Film Festival and a Special Jury Prize for Directing.

Hostile Border opens in select theaters (see list below) and on digital/video on demand platforms April 15. You can preorder it on iTunes now.

Theaters:

Arizona

• Cinema Latino (Phoenix)
• Harkins Theatres Spectrum 18 (Tucson)

California

• Laemmle Noho 7 (LA)
• Media Arts Center (San Diego)

Colorado

• Sie Film Center (Denver)

Illinois

• Gene Siskel Film Center (Chicago)

Texas

• Cinema Latino (Pasadena)

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Images and preview courtesy of Samuel Goldwyn Films.