Rent No Man's Land (2020)

Entertaining Contemporary Western - No Man's Land review by GI

Handsomely shot this contemporary western is well meaning in trying to educate the viewer about the plight of Mexican immigrants but does so in a didactic manner that is weakened as the film develops into a chase thriller. Set on the Texas / Mexico border where a ranching family of Dad (Frank Grillo), Mum (Andie MacDowell) and two sons including rising baseball player Jackson (Jake Allyn who also co-wrote the script). Thet are a bit paranoid about 'protecting' their land from illegal immigrants that they act as a sort of vigilante militia rounding up any trespassing immigrants until Jackson stupidly shoots and kill a young boy. Despite regret and confession he flees the police and rides into Mexico where he gets a job on a family ranch but finds the dead boy's father and a nasty drug dealer are on the hunt for him. The film picks up from it's rather predictable start and as a thriller has an entertainment value and it is well intentioned but it's set up as a moral story of the education of a redneck is then deviated from to a standard narrative of guilt over a pointless killing. This isn't a bad film by any stretch and worth checking out.