Written and directed by Juan Pablo Arias Muñoz, Casa Grande is a neo-Western with a story that plays out like an intimate chess match. Yet this game is played at high speed with such dangerously high stakes, you can feel the grit right though the screen. Helping convey the emotion, the tough choices, and the heart of the story are the legitimate and well-crafted characters. Sure, they feel like familiar archetypes, but once they are on the board the moves they make will be highly unexpected. That’s where the magic happens.
Muñoz offers up juicy complex family dynamics that exist between two ranching families. The back and forth in a seeming simple framework becomes captivating, almost soap opera-esqe, and characters like J.R. Ewing and John Dutton certainly come to mind. Yet those two would do wise to keep on their toes around the likes of Sawyer and Roy. But these patriarchs are not the only snake on their respective ranch – you never know who’s going to show their fangs just to stay ahead in the game.
It’s a very tense and complicated story involving people who want what’s best for their family. At two different ends of the spectrum (but more similar than they would admit) they will do whatever is necessary to help their households, kin, and legacy thrive. We got to speak with the brilliant Madison Lawlor and veteran actor Bruce Davison about their roles. There was rootin’, tootin’ and a good amount of shootin’ amid morally ambiguous power struggles and backstabbing. So if that’s your brand of cinema, check out Casa Grande in theaters on May 1, and enjoy this episode of The GoSeeTalk Podcast Experience.
A prodigal daughter rejoins her family at their farm during a difficult time, as her ailing father faces both a terminal diagnosis and mounting pressure from competitors. Old wounds resurface as they grapple with what lies ahead
CASA GRANDE will be released in theaters starting on May 1.
