Morelia 2025 Review: LA GLORIA, Texas Rancher Swept Up in Immigration Crisis

A widowed rancher in rural Texas finds his land overrun by illegal immigrants. That's the opening of La Gloria, a modern-day Western from director and co-writer J.T. Walker.

David Morse stars as rancher Carson Tidwell. A commanding physical presence, Morse digs into his character's guilt-infused isolation. Tidwell tends cattle alone, drinks by himself in the town's sole bar, and avoids talking to anyone—even his son Harley (Bill Heck), a Border Patrol agent.

Checkpoints can't stop the flow of immigrants en route to San Antonio. Barbed wire fences cut by coyote guides can wound or kill Walker's cattle. His sheds are vandalized. Hearing a disturbance in the middle of the night, he fires a rifle into the dark.

Tidwell doesn't know that he shot Irena (Jaklyn Bejarano) until he finds her hiding in his barn the next day. At first he is unwilling to help her, but eventually brings her to a vet to help clean her wounded leg. She's clearly unable to walk the hundred miles or so to San Antonio, where she had planned to catch a bus to relatives in Denver. Tidwell reluctantly lets her stay in his wife's bedroom.

Border Patrol agents learn about the shooting from a captured coyote; sensors point to Tidwell's farm. He refuses to cooperate when they ask to search the area. Harley wonders what his father is hiding, and whether he may have committed murder.

As director, Walker uses deliberate pacing, stark settings, and forlorn characters to challenge viewers, trying to make them decide between right and wrong. But the facts are stacked in Irena's favor. Her husband was murdered by a drug cartel, her home burned to the ground, her parents threatened. She herself was cut and scarred for life. Plus, she's four months pregnant.

It still takes Tidwell a long time to decide what to do. A superb actor, Morse makes that journey from indifference to empathy plausible. Walker helps by providing thoroughly convincing details about the desolate Texas landscape, a place where it's a struggle to survive.

What La Gloria tries to prove is that it's harder to be prejudiced against an individual than a stereotype. Tidwell won't help immigrants, but can't turn Irena down. Asked why by Harley, he replies, "I know her."

Walker shot much of the film on his grandparents' ranch, giving La Gloria a sense of authenticity most low-budget films can't achieve. Bejarano and Heck give natural, lived-in performances that complement Morse's work perfectly. The result is a modest but well-made drama that does a surprisingly good job addressing an intractable problem.

Screened at the 2025 Morelia International Film Festival in the International Premieres section.