The Wall of Mexico


The Wall of Mexico is a comedy-drama film directed by Zachary Cotler and Magdalena Zyzak. The film, starring Jackson Rathbone, Esai Morales, Marisol Sacramento and Carmela Zumbado, centers around a wealthy family who build a wall around their water supply in an attempt to prevent theft of their water from the local townspeople.
The film premiered at the SXSW Film Festival in 2019, before being released at several others, and received generally positive reviews from critics. It has been picked up for an upcoming theatrical release by Dark Star Pictures, scheduled for sometime in 2020.

Plot

The wealthy Mexican-American Arista family hires a new white handyman, Don. Don, mentored by veteran groundskeeper Mike, labors at the ranch for months and comes to learn that something unusual is going on there, something having to do with the Arista's well; the water level keeps going down even when it rains. Meanwhile, Don has become enamored with the daughters of the family, Ximena and Tania, especially Tania.
One night, Don and the patriarch Henry chase a group of thieves away from the well. Soon Don becomes aware there may be something unusual about the water itself. Henry orders Mike and Don to hire a crew and build a giant wall around the ranch to thwart future thieves. This action leads to an altercation between the nearby mostly white town and the Mexican-American family. It also leads Don to insatiable curiosity about the well and to actions with major consequences.

Cast

The film premiered at the South by Southwest Film Festival on March 8, 2019 and screened at various other festivals that year, including the Nashville Film Festival, the Newport Beach Film Festival, the Haifa International Film Festival, and the American Film Festival.

Reception

Critical reception

Review website and magazine The Hollywood Reporter praised the performances of the actors in the film, particularly those of Morales, Rathborne, Berkeley, Hemingway, Sacramento and Zumbado. However, its storyline was criticized, where the article states "We grow impatient whenever the film cuts from the fascinating main action to this clichéd romance. The pic could definitely use tighter editing, and a deeper dissection of the conflict between the whites and Latinos would also have helped." The film was overall credited for its execution.
American newspaper The Austin Chronicle reviewed the film positively, stating "Although the film’s allegorical references are easy to suss out, it is nice to see our current border wall mess addressed from the other side of the divider. Drug-fueled scenes are filmed via subjective techniques worthy of a contact high."
Critic Danielle Solzman praised the film's political complexity, stating "The Wall of Mexico is quite the allegorical response to the Trump administration. It’s even more ironic when one realizes that this American-made film was filmed south of the border. That’s a win for the Mexican economy nonetheless. Honestly, I can’t stop laughing at this part."

Awards and nominations

In 2019, at the American Film Festival, the film was nominated for the Narrative Feature award.