In "East of Wall" (2025), a rebellious young horse trainer named Tabatha grapples with the sudden death of her husband, navigating crippling financial woes, raw grief, and the daily grind of maintaining her rundown ranch in South Dakota's harsh Badlands. Amid the chaos, she opens her home as a sanctuary for her teenage daughter Porshia and a ragtag group of troubled neighborhood youth, fostering an unlikely family bound by resilience, horse whispering, and shared hardships. Blending docudrama intimacy with sweeping Western vistas, first-time director Kate Beecroft crafts a poignant portrait of female grit, generational healing, and rural survival, where feminism, class struggles, and quiet acts of defiance collide in authentic, unvarnished realism.

Movie Details

  • Title: East of Wall
  • Release Date: January 24, 2025 (Sundance world premiere); August 15, 2025 (limited theatrical by Sony Pictures Classics)
  • Director: Kate Beecroft (feature debut)
  • Writer: Kate Beecroft
  • Genre: Drama, Docudrama
  • Language: English
  • Cast:
    • Tabatha Zimiga as Tabatha (semi-autobiographical role)
    • Porshia Zimiga as Porshia
    • Scoot McNairy
    • Jennifer Ehle
    • Brynn Darling as Brynn
    • Additional non-actors portraying inspired versions of themselves in ensemble roles
  • Cinematographer: Not specified
  • Editor: Not specified
  • Music Composer: Not specified
  • Runtime: 97 minutes
  • Production: Inspired by real-life Zimiga family; Beecroft embedded for three years
  • Distributor: Sony Pictures Classics
  • Box Office: Strong festival buzz led to solid limited run; exact figures pending post-release
  • IMDb Rating: 6.5/10
  • Notable: Won Audience Award in NEXT program at Sundance 2025; screened at Tribeca June 11, 2025; hybrid docufiction style draws comparisons to ChloΓ© Zhao's "Nomadland" and "The Rider" for its raw authenticity and non-actor casting IMDb Page Official Trailer on YouTube Rotten Tomatoes Reviews Sundance Festival Page Roger Ebert Review Wikipedia Overview Official Site Tickets Fandango Showtimes Movie Insider Details Letterboxd User Reviews