BROKEN LAND — Yellowstone for Old Democrats

Review by Steve Barton II

While the Western genre still has its fans, the days of box office success have come and gone. To breakthrough to the masses, filmmakers have to put some type of twist on their plot or style to appeal to modern audiences, while still staying true to the main western DNA. A few big successes using this tactic are Tarantino with Django Unchained or the Coen’s with their adaptation of the classic novel No Country for Old Men blending western themes with a crime thriller. When it comes to Broken Land, Joseph T. Walker makes you think it’s just another movie about a farmer being forced to defend his land against the “evil illegals” coming for him and his land early on, but he puts a refreshing twist on things. Broken Land follows Carson Tidwell (David Morse) as a lonely farmer who comes across a young migrant girl in his barn and accidentally shoots her. He reluctantly allows her to heal in his home while trying to hide her from his Border Patrol agent son.


Broken Land was a surprise with how they didn’t follow the simple and easy path of villainizing the migrant women, in hopes of satisfying the regular audience of this type of movie. Joseph T. Walker and Christopher C. Young wrote a strong character with Carson Tidwell and he is portrayed brilliantly by David Morse. As his character begins to reveal more about himself, you see how layered and complex he is. His beliefs and actions may stir up conversations, but it makes the story feel important and impactful. He’s not a perfect protagonist and that adds to the relatability. It makes the audience feel more invested in Carson and his situation. The stress of wanting to satisfy his son (and last living relative) and doing the morally correct thing and helping this woman in need takes a toll on Carson and Morse plays it perfectly with a hard outer shell, but broken on the inside.

The western tone is mainly focused on the setting and how Broken Land was shot. During the film, we experience this emotional story with stunning backgrounds whether it’s beautiful skies and wide open fields. With this being such a personal story for writer/director Joseph T. Walker, you can see that he’s looking back at his childhood in Texas and being sure to capture both the look of the setting and the feel of how both sides of this story come from a place of humanity. While Walker pays tribute to the old south/west time and genre, his message is more about humanity and not being hateful towards others.


Unfortunately, the ones who need to hear and understand the main message in Broken Land either won’t see it or won’t bother listening. While it is at the forefront, politics aren’t ever directly involved because this isn’t a red vs. blue issue. This film is about being a human and seeing others for who they are, not how someone on the internet or your racist grandfather told you. Broken Land is a simple movie, but it packs a punch and can hopefully change the mindset of some folks and force them to reflect on previous biases. In a time where ICE and their deplorable actions are in the front of all of our minds, we need films like Broken Land to remind us how humans should treat each other. 


Broken Land is available on VOD starting June 12th!


Rating: 3/5