One of the breakout hits from this year’s Sundance Film Festival was Kate Beecroft’s East of Wall, a movie set in an area of South Dakota referred to as “the Badlands” that very few people not from that remote region will know about. The story focuses on Tabatha Zimiga (played by the real Tabatha Zimiga), a rancher and horse trainer, who has created an extended family around her actual daughter Porshia and toddler Stetson (played by her real kids). The film deals with what happens when Tabatha is approached by the wealthy investor Roy Waters (Scoot McNairy) who wants to buy Tabatha’s ranch and the hundreds of acres of land surrounding it, while also keeping Tabatha and her family doing what they to do so that he can make even more money selling their trained horses.
Other than McNairy, the film also stars an almost unrecognizable Jennifer Ehle (Zero Dark Thirty) as Tabatha’s mother, Tracey, and the veteran actor blends in so seamlessly with Tabatha’s actual extended family and all the other non-actors that populate Beecroft’s feature directorial debut. The way that Beecroft directs actors and non-actors alike makes East of Wall a special movie on par with the films of Chloé Zhao (Nomadland, The Rider), although so much is taken from the actual life of Tabatha and her family that it’s a film that stands on its own. The movie won the Audience Award at Sundance in the “Next” category, so clearly, it’s a crowdpleaser worthy of discovery.
Cinema Daily US had a chance to speak with Tabatha, Porshia, and filmmaker Kate Beecroft about making East of Wall in quite an unconventional way. You can watch the interview with Ms. Beecroft above, and then learn more about the film’s two first-time actors in the video interview below.
TABATHA AND PORSHIA ZIMIGA
East of Wall opens in New York and many other regions across the country on Friday, August 15. You can learn if it’s playing near you at the Official Website.
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Writer/Director: Kate Beecroft
Cast: Tabatha Zimiga, Porshia Zimiga, Jennifer Ehle, Scott McNairy, Jesse Thorson, Clay Pateneaude, Chancey Ryder Witt, Stetson Neumann
Producer: Lila Yacoub, Shannon Moss, Melanie Ramsayer
Production Co: Station Road, Stetson’s Kingdom, Picture Movers, Working Barn, Low Road Film, Tanbark Pictures
Distributor: Sony Pictures Classics
Rating: R (Language Throughout)
Genre: Drama
Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): August 15, 2025 ‘
Runtime: 1 hour, 37 minutes
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You can watch the trailer below: