Broken Land
September 24th, 2026
MOVIE: BROKEN LAND
STARRING: DAVID MORSE, BILL HECK, JAKLYN BEJARANO
DIRECTED BY: JOSEPH T. WALKER
AMovieGuy.com’s RATING: 2 STARS (Out of 4)
RATING: PG-13
RUN TIME: 99 MINUTES
A movie like Broken Land seems to be made for only a very small section of the world’s population. Off the top of my head, my guess would be conservatives, Republicans, Fox News viewers, elderly people, members of rural communities, farmers, cowboys, people from Arizona or Texas, and your racist uncle. And even that might be too broad a stroke. The limitations of its potential audience are only one of the many problems at play, as Joseph T. Walker’s film, about a rancher on the Mexico-Texas border who befriends a migrant and tries to keep her safe from U.S. Border Patrol, fails to build any real thrills or meaningful conversation around the complex issues of immigration. Broken Land has fallen apart from the start.
Right from the jump, the biggest problem with Broken Land is that there simply isn’t much drama here. David Morse stars as Carson Tidwell, an aging cattle rancher living in an isolated home along the Mexican border. He has a drinking problem, tends to what little cattle he has left, and mourns the death of his wife, all while his relationship with his son, played by Bill Heck, has become fractured. His son also happens to be a Border Patrol agent. Late one night, Carson notices migrants have broken into the car in his garage. While pursuing the trespassers, he shoots a woman in the leg. The woman, Irena (Jaklyn Bejarano), is left wounded and in need of help, so Carson takes her in, caring for her in his miserable, begrudging way while trying to keep her safe from the agents searching for her.
The majority of the drama in Broken Land comes from Carson being forced to care for the very people he hates. It’s no secret that the lead character is racist, using offensive slurs to describe immigrants crossing the border. So when Carson begrudgingly takes care of Irena, it’s easy to predict exactly where the narrative is going. The film is clearly setting him up as the unlikely savior who will learn the error of his ways and develop a close friendship with someone he once viewed as his enemy.
Co-written by Walker and Christopher C. Young, the best thing Broken Land has going for it is Morse, who delivers a somber and morose performance despite being given little to do beyond moping around. That mopey, dire tone is consistent throughout. The score consists largely of constant, light guitar picking, while the visuals are smothered in black and gray shades. It’s in that lack of narrative heft and actual drama that the entire film collapses. It’s difficult to appreciate much of anything when a movie moves at such a boring pace while offering so few redeeming qualities to latch onto. Walker and Young fail to craft a story with any greater purpose or a collection of characters we actually want to root for.
It may be harsh to assume the demographics of the people who would watch Broken Land, but ultimately, this isn’t much of a film for anyone. At its core, Walker is trying to create a bond and deliver a message about a racist rancher with a heart of gold learning to care for an immigrant only after he has already shot her. That kind of logic is a perfect example of why Broken Land doesn’t work. It wants to be noble and bring people together, but ultimately becomes a story that seems more interested in making a white man feel better about himself. That may have worked in 1990, but today, we can see right through Broken Land.
2 STARS
BROKEN LAND IS CURRENTLY STREAMING ON AMAZON PRIME, THE ROKU CHANNEL, AND OTHER VARIOUS STREAMING SERVICES.
Written by: Leo Brady
