After the death of her husband, Tabatha — a young, tattooed, rebellious horse trainer — wrestles with financial insecurity and unresolved grief while providing refuge for a group of wayward teenagers on her broken-down ranch in the Badlands. A chance encounter brought together writer-director Kate Beecroft and her latest subject and lead, Tabatha Zimiga. A wrong turn down an unnamed road led to years of cohabitation on Zimiga’s unusual ranch, where she and her band of teenage girls reinvent the American West, the nuclear family and the place of women within both. In this creative work of hybridity, first-time feature director Beecroft collaborates beautifully with the actual individuals who inspired this project and a cast that includes Scoot McNairy and Jennifer Ehle. Together, they weave fact and fiction into this sweepingly cinematic and deeply rooted human story. Shot in gorgeous harmony with its stunning natural setting, EAST OF WALL is a testament to the value of people, skill and generosity.
“EAST OF WALL is vibrant with its sense of place and, beneath its hard-knocks surface, a poetry of astonishment and yearning…. The place Beecroft stumbled upon is fueled by girl power, and the story she and her collaborators have created is wise and messy, keenly aware of the dark places at the margins as it burns bright with life.” —Sheri Linden, Hollywood Reporter “A magnificent first feature for writer-director Kate Beecroft…. EAST OF WALL thrives in the details, with Beecroft’s gritty, intimate direction and bold casting making it feel adjacent to a documentary. It's at its best when it hones in on the three generations of women at its core.” —Taylor Gates, Collider “So much of the American cowboy mythos — the way they talk, the silhouette they cut, the clothes they wear — has been codified, if not invented wholesale, by Hollywood. From first shot to last, Kate Beecroft’s EAST OF WALL expands our perception of those iconic horse wranglers to consider the women so often overlooked.” —Peter Debruge, Variety
