East of Wall

Tattoos running down her neck, half her head shaved and a gift with horses that everyone in the local ranching world knows about. That's Tabatha Zimiga, a horse trainer in the South Dakota Badlands, who plays herself in 'East of Wall'. It's Kate Beecroft's first feature: she spent three years with the Zimiga family and built the story out of their lives, somewhere between fiction and documentary.

Tabatha lost her husband not long ago and is keeping the ranch going however she can, training horses with her teenage daughter Porshia and selling them at auctions where they rarely fetch what they're worth. Her place has also filled up with kids nobody else wants, dropped off by local parents who can't or won't look after them and who know she won't turn them away. Porshia, whose father taught her to ride, is grieving in her own way and drifting further from her mother.

Then Roy Waters turns up, a wealthy horseman from Texas who's impressed by Tabatha's work. His offer sounds good: he'll buy the land and let mother and daughter stay on with the horses. But this family has been burned before. Can they trust him?

Scoot McNairy plays Roy and Jennifer Ehle is Tracey, Tabatha's mother. They're two seasoned actors in a cast where almost everyone plays a version of themselves, Porshia included.

It premiered at Sundance in January 2025, winning the audience award in the NEXT section, and Sony Pictures Classics released it in US cinemas that August. Reviews were very warm, and many critics compared it with Chloé Zhao's 'The Rider' and 'Nomadland'. It picked up two Independent Spirit nominations, for best first feature and best breakthrough performance for Tabatha Zimiga.

• Drama
• Western