User Reviews

Some great visuals, especially on the ranch. The protagonists father's acting is good. I recognised him from the end of 'Sicario', so that brought a level of talent to this film, though he's given nothing to do in the film.

I gotta talk about the other acting, Mother of God!!!!!! the lead actress in this film, her acting is dreadful....I mean REALLY, REALLY bad, she has one look on her face for almost the entire film. She has zero range of emotion, how was she cast as the lead for this???? LOL. She is painful to watch.

Theres a few things in this film that are brushed over/vague: The opening montage of the woman "stealing" credit card info, how does she do it, she all of a sudden has all these credit cards she's swiping the info of. The montage would be so much more compelling if we experienced her trying to steal them, why? because there are immediate stakes attached, she'd get caught, the police would get involved and it would likely go right up to the scam ring her mother and partner are running and they'd ultimately lose their house...and there in brings my next point..

..I'm 50 mins into this film and the last time I saw the protagonist in the US her and her mother were going to lose the family home, the protagonists motivation for making money after being deported is to keep her home in the states, like any normal human being in that situation, but surely by the end of the second act the house is about to get repossessed, but I've no idea whats happening, whats the status on her home? just bad storytelling. Dear writer of this film: If you're going to set up stakes that are supposed to drive the story of the film you HAVE to pay it off in some way, let us the viewer experience the stakes coming to pass or the stakes being overcome - Screenwriting 101!

What exactly was the woman doing for the bad guy, it's vague, there's no context to it? How does she do it? What's her role in it? Like the credit card stealing it's all quickly brushed over and felt lazy. There's money exchange involved but what is the protagonist's involvement to it? Again the filmmakers aren't letting us experience the goal of the protagonist: To make money to save her family home back in the US.

Her father only after 55 mins into the film realises his daughter's phone is Arturo's phone? really?

Overall because of the protagonist's awful acting and the badly written stakes for her and her family back home I never felt gripped by the story at all.

With all the discussion about illegal immigrants and problems along the Mexican border you would think more movies would be made about the topic. The only problem is if that happened then sides would be taken, arguments would follow and according to the press mass hysteria would occur. So when this movie arrived I wasn't sure what to make of it but I'm glad I got to see it. Rather than take sides on the issues it tells a story instead and that's a good sign of a well-made movie.

Claudia (Veronica Sixtos) is an illegal immigrant living in living in the US with her mother and making a living via credit card fraud and identity theft. Living beyond her means in what seems to be a soulless stupor she is caught by the FBI and deported across the border to live with her father, Andres (Julio Cedillo). Andres has not been a big part of Claudia's life in the past and he has little sympathy for her nor intentions of taking it easy on her. His ranch is a hard lifestyle to change too and the work isn't easy but he expects her to carry her own load.

All the while Claudia thinks of nothing but returning across the border illegally and back to the US. Andres has his ranch hand Arturo take Claudia with him to work on the fences. While out at a far end of the ranch Arturo sees a car headed for them and runs for a nearby hill. In the car is Ricky (Roberto Urbina), a smuggler that Arturo works for on the side. Having stolen from him Ricky and his men have every intention of killing Arturo and Claudia leaving no witnesses behind. When Claudia offers her services to Ricky to help him do the job assigned to Arturo he agrees and leaves with Arturo tied to the back of his car.

As the movie progresses Claudia continues to seem to have no life inside of her. While her father constantly argues with her Claudia's grandmother tells him he needs patience and to guide her. Claudia goes from helping Ricky to sharing his bed, all with the hopes of making enough money and a connection with him that he'll smuggle her back across the border. It's a deadly game and one she might not survive, especially when the military shows to put an end to the border smuggling operation. Just who will survive and the question of Claudia finding her soul make for an interesting film.

As I said from the start what really made this film interesting was the fact that it took the issues of border security and illegal immigrants and turned it on its head, not taking one side or the other and discussing both the lure of coming to America (taking a part of the vast wealth possible there) and the story of a young woman who is so caught up in her desire to live the high life that she never thinks further than her own needs and how she matures before the film ends. By taking on these issues rather than those most would expect we have a fleshed out story rather than rhetoric from one side or the other on the political aspects of the concept. In the end while each of those issues posed are discussed the film provokes one to consider those political ideas at the same time in a back door sort of way.

The film is well made and looks great. The performances from actors I for one am unfamiliar with were so well done that you never thought you were watching anyone act, they seemed to be the roles they were playing. There are some scenes of sexuality that some might be bothered by but the majority of people will simply gloss over; that being said it is definitely not a movie for children. But for those willing to watch this film you will find yourself engrossed in the story of Claudia and her family and think more when it comes to the issues of the border.

I located this film in a Redbox machine, and it was refreshing to view this thoughtful independent film.

"Hostile Border" may not be the best title for a film that barely touches on the topic of immigration. Rather, it is primarily a character study of a young woman apparently raised in the United States and deported to her native Mexico. For this reason, the original title "Pocha: Manifest Destiny" more accurately represents the spirit of the movie.

The film begins with a definition of the word "pocha," which is a slang term for a Chicana who speaks fluent English but has a limited grasp of the Spanish language. The central character named Claudia is played by a dynamic young actress named Veronica Sixtos. She carries the film on her shoulders from start to finish.

There is plenty of action, including scenes of violence, in this film, and it appears as though Claudia cannot avoid trouble at every turn of her life. After her deportation to Mexico and living with her father and grandmother on a cattle ranch, Claudia meets a nice young man named Arturo. But he has been playing a dangerous game with with a hustler named Ricky.

After Arturo is killed by Ricky, Claudia gets linked up in the illegal business activities of Ricky, using her father's ranch to help in his shady transactions. She also begins a bizarre and clearly unhealthy personal relationship with Ricky. The relationship may be motivated by Claudia's instincts for survival. But there are moments when she clearly stands up to Ricky and defines some boundaries for her own dignity.

There is a defining moment in the film when Claudia asserts to her father that she wants it all...and now! There is the sense that her upbringing in the United States has inculcated her into a twisted version of the American Dream.

To put it mildly, Claudia does not learn from her mistakes, but doubles down on her ill-defined goals of wealth. Her surface-level goal is to return (illegally) to America and pay off her mother's home mortgage. But it is also clear that Claudia really does not have deep ties to her family. It was never clear why she was so antagonistic to her hard-working father and why she would not listen to the wise counsel of her kind grandmother.

Viewers may be conflicted about the true nature of Claudia's character. But there is no doubt that the filmmakers created a thought-provoking profile of a young person filled with contradictions, yet great potential that is ultimately unrealized by the end of the film.

1 May 2016: I found this movie, "Hostile Border" by accident and since there aren't that many movies with an all Hispanic cast in America, I decided to watch it. The entire cast was good, but Mexican American lead actress, Veronica Sixtos and Colombian actor, Roberto Urbina are the best in the movie. Mexican American actor, Julio Cedillo is also good as the father. The actress playing the grandmother in the film was okay, but I was not that moved by her performance.

I was also glad that there was Not any hard violence or rape scenes on women. I am tired of seeing women get beaten up or raped in movies and t.v shows. There is one scene where Ricky does a baseball bat swing with a shovel and kills grandma. There is one nice sex scene {where Claudia is topless} that is split in with other scenes, but the nudity is brief. I am a man and I do love seeing pretty women, but the audience does Not need to see a full blown love scene with lots of nudity to get the picture.

Any love scene from the moment a man & woman start passionately kissing and going into the bedroom or taking off of clothes, that is enough for the audience to know what is going to happen next.

There is one racial slur made by Robert Urbina's Ricky character about Mexicans and Claudia asks him if he is Mexican and makes a second unnecessary racist remark.

Hum, there are so many Hispanics/Latinos in American and approximately 18-20 Latin countries {Not including Spain} such as the Latin countries that most people do not think of; Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, Dominican Republic,and Honduras. Most focus on Mexico, Guatemala, Puerto Rico and Cuba.

I was a bit surprised by the ending at the U.S-Mexican border. Claudia had finally won her chance to cross back into America with lots of cash, but she decides to stay in Mexico thereby breaking her promise that she made to return to her mother in the beginning of the film, which means she will never to see her mother again or not in the near future. On a scale of 1~10, I give this film an 8 and one thumb up.

I really enjoyed this Movie. Claudia is a sexy scamming chick working her way to get back into America on her Dad's ranch in Mexico and while also dealing with a violent soft spoken thug named Ricky. Claudia is pulled in so many directions from the gentle nature of her Grandma, to her unforgiving Dad and finally to Ricky who she sees as being her best chance of getting back into America. The sex scenes were short and bad ass! The actors in this movie did a great job, although Claudia's Mom looked pretty creepy. Her face was very bloated or it could've have been too much Botox. Weird. Now I finally know what 'Pocha' means and it ain't a compliment. Typically, Pochas speak English and lack fluency in Spanish. In the movie Pocha was likened to being a Fraud or Rotten Fruit. I was shocked by some of things that happened in the end but I wasn't disappointed. Watch this Movie!