(**1/2)

She’s a cowgirl and an Earth Mother. Living on 3000 acres in the Badlands of west South Dakota. Opening up her home and heart to wayward girls. She’s real.

Tabatha Zimiga is a horse trainer. Her husband has died and now her extended family live on her ranch. Making ends meet by selling horses is tough, but she’s adapted. Her popular presence on Tik Tok, along with her kids, helps. They’re local celebrities. Admired by some. While others point fingers. Says one jealous local: “She can diagnose a horse in two minutes. But my wife thinks she’s a witch!”  

Porshia Zimiga is Tabitha’s blood daughter. A rebellious teen who hangs out with her surrogate siblings: Leanna, Brynn, Skylar, Jesse and the baby Stetson. They’re all eccentric, but her moonshine making Grandma Tracey (Jennifer Ehle, Zero Dark Thirty), Tabitha’s mom, might be the most unconventional. Clay, Tabitha’s new man, helps when he can. They’re a nontraditional family, but a family, nonetheless. 

The girls are known for their horse wrangling abilities, especially Porshia. Mom is more than willing to share their talents with other ranchers: “If you need help starting (training) this colt I’ll send the girls over.” Yet they struggle. Bills pile up and food has to be put on the table. Then one day, an ambitious entrepreneur, Roy Water (Scoot McNairy, A Complete Unknown), rolls into town. He’s buying up Tabitha’s horses. One eye on the mares and stallions. The other eye on her land.  

First-time director Kate Beecroft artfully tells this tale with an odd mixture of fact and fiction. With just a few music videos and shorts under her belt, she’s graduated to feature film making and brings a new twist to the medium. Tabitha and most of the kids in the movie are real people living a rustic western life. But some are made-up characters played by actors. Beecroft has crafted her script around the matriarchal clan, capturing their day-to-day experiences and spirit. It’s an intriguing, hybrid docudrama format. Part reality and part creation, it establishes the characters, time, place, atmosphere and wondrous geography well. It’s less deft at creating compelling drama that would hold an audience’s attention for 97 minutes. 

Beecroft’s music video background shows in most frames where her fluid style of filming excels. Scenes of kids on horses galloping across the tundra are exhilarating. Cinematographer Austin Shelton and she have a great eye for movement, composition, colors and textures. Other scenes in homes, at horse auctions, etc. candidly reveal the life these folks lead. Simple, friendly, neighborly—but barely making it. Christina Blackaller’s costumes fit the characters and further establish their rural allure.    

Very engaging music from composers Lucas Frank and Daniel Meyer O’Keeffe blends in with the hippest playlist of the year: Pop-soul-country hits “Beverly Hills” and “Tall Boy” by the Grammy-winner Shaboozey catch a groove. Billy Squire’s “Lonely is the Night” rocks out. Hippie Sabotage brings that alternative/EDM vibe with their “Floating Palace.” While “Head Full of Holes,” by the indie/pop band ill peach, adds an ethereal feel. Audiences will Shazam the tunes up until the final credits. 

The atmosphere is so right, but the script needed more TLC. It’s great to establish this progressive and unique family. Tabitha, as matriarch, is charismatic and magnetic. The kids and their vulnerable situations seem needy. Watching the mothering is fascinating. But these protagonists needed a big bad antagonist to create viable drama. The introduction of the Roy Water character is a start. But it fizzles. The film never recovers from its lack of a life-threatening crisis. The kind that pulls emotions from viewers and sparks reactions.  

Zimiga’s persona is so strong it could spawn a TV/streaming series. She looks like she belongs in a motorcycle gang but acts like the most caring person you’ll ever meet. It’s also easy to appreciate the feistiness of the young supporting actors. Within the confines of the character, McNairy defines Waters well and Ehle shows the right amount of moxie for her grandma role.  

Images of South Dakota’s majestic Badlands will linger forever. Memories of this rebellious Earth Mother and her well-loved children will resonate too. If Beecroft’s screenwriting was as strong as her directing skills, East of Wall would have been more impressive.  

Photos courtesy of the Sundance Film Institute. 
For more information about the Sundance Film Festival go to: https://festival.sundance.org
Visit Film Critic Dwight Brown at DwightBrownInk.com.