A tense, atmospheric trailer has been released for indie thriller “Hostile Border,” co-directed and written by Kaitlin McLaughlin. “There are people who struggle and people who get what they want,” explains Claudia (Veronica Sixtos), the main character in the film. She “want[s] more” — and she’s willing to risk her life to get it.
Claudia is living as an undocumented immigrant in the United States when she’s arrested for credit card fraud. She’s sent back to Mexico and told that she will never be allowed back into country she’s made home. Once she moves in with her father back in Mexico, Claudia inquires about ways to sneak across the border. Shortly thereafter, she’s held at gunpoint and promised “easy, easy money” if she helps someone out — someone who knows her situation, and is most definitely trying to capitalize on her desperation. The footage indicates that the money and opportunity isn’t so “easy” and straightforward after all.
McLaughlin told Women and Hollywood that when she learned that her creative partner, Michael Dwyer, was developing a project inspired by his experience speaking with deportees, she “immediately envisioned a film from a young woman’s perspective.” McLaughlin said, “I wanted to tell the story through the eyes of a strong, adaptable young woman, one who is determined not to be a victim. Claudia, our main character, doesn’t easily fit into any categories. When we meet her she is trapped between two worlds, the United States and Mexico. She exists in-between, but refuses to be relegated to the periphery.”
The writer-director elaborated, “In a world that offers no place for her, Claudia carves her own path, sometimes by any means necessary. Selfish and entitled, she’s been raised at a time when American greed and materialism has reached epic heights. Claudia is not without her flaws, but she’s forced to interrogate her values and question her motivations. Hers is a journey to discover her own power, to create her own space and to transcend the boundaries and limitations born unto her.”
“Hostile Border,” co-directed by Dwyer, premiered at the Los Angeles Film Festival in 2015. The film hits theaters and VOD April 15.
[via FirstShowing]
