There is never a shortage of film, or TV series, surrounding the drug trade – and its unrelenting rippling effects. Yet, where some narratives have packed a punch, leaving effect and emotion in its wake, Borrego is a film that sadly does not, leaving viewers wishing it had just stayed lost. While it is not the worst film, it lacks the depth required for investment, its emotional attempts hollow and forced. And as its closing moments arrive, viewers will find themselves wondering what it was truly about in the first place.
Misdirection
Borrego opens with a title card informing audiences of the effects of addiction and the drug trade, alerting us that it stretches across all borders. It is a quiet moment, given the time to sink in and set the mood. Unfortunately, as Borrego continues, it feels misdirected – the film seems to be a bag of cliches and confusion that does not live up to the promise the title card seems to deliver.
Transitioning into the film itself, the actual mood of the film is truly laid out for audiences in the gorgeously long sweeping shots of the vacant desert. There is a true feeling of isolation the radiates from the landscape, heightening the sense of a lurking danger within the beauty before us. It is not afraid to hold us there, the desert becoming a character all its own. It is a solid foundation laid early on, a force our characters must workaround rather than manipulate.
From the desert, we transition to Elly (Lucy Hale), whose demeanor instantly seems complex – confirmed shortly by the understanding that she has recently lost someone close to her. It is at this moment, I find myself wondering why things always happen to those characters who are already broken. Can we only find peace or redemption be being further broken?
We do not stay with Elly long, as the film transitions to our antagonist, Guillermo (Jorge A. Jimenez), who is shown “cleaning up his mess”. Borrego builds on its feeling of desolate isolation as we watch Guillermo bury a body, his truck rolling over the dig site to not only pack down the dirt but hide evidence of a recent burial. There is a feeling that once the desert has you, you will never be found again – a feeling that will linger through the remainder of the film. Guillermo is a quiet force at first, one we know will have devastating effects later on, but one that is not immediately used.
It is here, following this at times painfully slow beginning, that Borrego begins to lose its sense of direction. As we follow Lucy into the desert, we learn she is in the area for a plant survey. As she is studying an unknown plant that has been growing throughout the desert area, we are introduced to Alex (Olivia Trujillo), the local daughter of Officer Jose (Nicholas Gonzalez) whose day of skipping school becomes a chance for her and Lucy to meet and connect emotionally. Their instant connection, however, feels forced and hollow – and too often unnecessary. As they interact, it feels as if Borrego is trying to create something more than the simplicity of the narrative it has already set out to make.
Too Much Crash Lands
As Elly takes in the sunset, grief lending to a notable performance from Hale, a plane crashes in the distance, Elly racing off to give aid. However, when she arrives, she gets more than she bargained for. As she approaches the injured pilot Tomas (Leynar Gomez), she is taken back as he is surrounded by packages of drugs. While she tries to get away, she is held at gunpoint and forced to help the pilot get to his destination to unload the drugs. Yet, the desert is more unforgivable than they imagine, and their journey becomes more perilous than anticipated.
The concept is intriguing, yet the execution leaves much to be desired. Borrego wants to be so much more than just a drug trade and police standoff experience. It wants to be a deeply poetic examination into the many lives affected by the drug trade, but its direction is lost in translation. The father and daughter relationship, the substitute mother and little sister relationship, and the idea of crime to protect one’s family feels empty and forced. And the lack of depth surrounding each of these characters only hurts this attempt further.
Borrego tries too hard as well to build the tension. Too much time is put into explaining the lack of resources and the odds of making it to their destination alive than in showing it – in bringing it to life. Not only does it lean into the cliches, but it is also overly formulaic, leeching any chance of tension. And with little connection to the characters, no one truly ever seems in danger or at risk.
Conclusion
While filled with gorgeous shots of the desert landscape, Borrego fails to engage its audience, delivering hollow connections and emotions, compounded further by its uncertainty of direction. And with a story that has been told so many times before, Borrego is destined to remain lost in the desert.
Have you seen Borrego? What did you think? Let us know in the comments below!
Borrego will be released in theaters and VOD on January 14, 2021.
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