Synopsis
In the Arizona borderlands along the US–Mexico border, an amateur rip crew robs and murders a band of drug smugglers, then tries to hide in plain sight with a civilian patriot militia that is “guarding the border.”
In the aftermath, Robert Morrison, the aging, recently widowed rancher who finds the bodies on his land, and Ava Leon, the troubled single-mother Border Patrol agent who comes to investigate, find common ground in their struggles to come home from war. Little by little, a guarded father-daughter relationship brings them both back to life. But as the bond between Robert, Ava and her son grows stronger, the killers are coming apart, driven by rising paranoia down a desperate and bloody path.
When the killers suspect that Ava is onto them, they see no way out but to kill her and cover their trail. They lay siege to Robert's remote ranch house, and Robert, Ava and her son are forced to fight for their lives.
Honors
- Austin Film Festival Screenplay Competition Second Rounder, 2026
- Scriptapalooza Screenwriting Competition Quarterfinalist, 2021, as Borderlands