Border-checkpoint tension makes for engrossing ‘Transpecos’

West Texas plays a starring role in one of the year’s best films, Hell or High Water, and now it has a prominent place in another, the riveting Transpecos.

Set in the arid solitude between Terlingua and Alpine, the lean and rangy Transpecos is a largely three-person drama that, like last year’s Sicario, transforms the issues of cartels, borders, and drugs from headlines into a deeply personal story of fear, retribution and violence.

Lance Flores (Gabriel Luna, Freeheld and True Detective), Lou Hobbs (Clifton Collins Jr., Ballers and the new Westworld TV series), and Benjamin Davis (Johnny Simmons, The Stanford Prison Experiment) are three border-patrol agents at an isolated checkpoint. Lou is the older, jaded, and somewhat racist veteran who’s suspicious of every car that rolls through. Ben is the newbie, still learning the ropes, while the experienced and by-the-book Lance is the voice of reason in the middle.

They have an easy, fraternal relationship, honed to a fine point no doubt by their long days of lonely togetherness, with only the occasional passing car for distraction. That all changes one day when a seemingly harmless driver (Alex Knight) comes through their outpost.

What happens next sends the story into overdrive, upends their relationship and changes their lives. Director/co-writer Greg Kwedar, making his feature debut, displays a firm command of the narrative, slowly ramping up the tension until its violent conclusion.

Transpecos has made a lot of noise on the festival circuit this year — it won the audience awards at SXSW and the Dallas International Film Festival — and it’s no wonder. Low on budget but high on craft and intelligence, Transpecos is as stark yet rewarding as a West Texas landscape at sunset.

Exclusive: The Texas Theatre, Dallas, and video-on-demand; opens Oct. 12 at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth

This story was originally published September 8, 2016 at 8:29 AM with the headline "Border-checkpoint tension makes for engrossing ‘Transpecos’."