Overview
Desierto is a 2015 thriller film co-written and directed by Jonás Cuarón. It was produced by Cuarón together with his father Alfonso and his uncle Carlos, and distributed by STXfilms. The film stars Gael García Bernal (also executive producer) and Jeffrey Dean Morgan. It was shown in the Special Presentations section of the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival, where it won the Prize of the International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI) for Special Presentations, and was selected as the Mexican entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 89th Academy Awards but it was not nominated.
Plot
A group of Mexican migrant workers seek a better life by crossing the US border illegally; when the truck carrying them breaks down in the middle of nowhere, the driver points the migrants and his partner Mechas in the direction of the United States and wishes them luck. Moises (Gael García Bernal) is also a member of the migrants and follows as the group splits in two while trying to pass the border.
Sam (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) is a merciless, rifle-toting vigilante who, with his faithful but vicious Malinois dog, Tracker, hunts for rabbits near the border and notices the group trespassing; with the help of Tracker and the use of his M1 Garand rifle, Sam kills most of the group, including Mechas and leaves Moises and Adela (Alondra Hidalgo) as the sole survivors after a long chase. Unable to follow the last two, Sam decides to continue his hunt the next day and leaves with Tracker.
Adela and Moises find a spot to rest, with Adela confessing to Moises that her companion, who was one Sam's victims, was sent by her parents to protect her and even though he molested her during their journey, he didn't deserve to die that way. Moises confesses to Adela that he had already been to the US and that he has a family waiting for him in Oakland, showing a talking teddy bear which his son gave to him before being deported, and that Moises promised him he would bring it back. Meanwhile, Sam rests by a campfire with Tracker, describing to his loyal dog how he used to love the desert but now the heat is playing with his mind and he wants to escape from it.
From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).