Review: 'East of Wall' is an authentic modern West story of a mother and daughter in crisis, played beautifully by the people who inspired the characters

Writer-director Kate Beecroft’s beautifully shot and tenderly realized drama “East of Wall” is a great example of “high risk, high reward” filmmaking, where a real-life person — someone who’s fascinating in and of themselves — is cast as a lightly fictionalized version of themselves.

The people Beecroft gives that spotlight to are Tabatha Zimiga and her teen daughter, Porshia. Tabatha is a hard-bitten South Dakota rancher, training horses and giving homes to teens who have nowhere else to go. Porshia is friends with many of these teens, and she’s the best rider in the bunch.

In Beecroft’s light polish on reality, Tabatha has been widowed for about a year. The death of her husband, John, is a taboo topic of conversation, though it’s clear that Porshia, who idolizes John, blames Tabatha for his death. Porshia barely talks to Tabatha, who’s trying to pay the bills by selling horses at local livestock auctions — where Porshia can demonstrate her horse-handling skills to make the sale.

That opportunity seems to come in the person of Roy Waters (played by the actor Scoot McNairy), a Texas rancher who makes an offer to buy Tabatha’s ranch and keep her and all of her hands on as employees. To sweeten the deal, Roy takes Porshia on the road to sell horses at livestock barns further away than where Tabatha usually goes.

As the relationship between Tabatha and Porshia grows more tense, Tabatha seeks advice from her own mom, Tracey, who’s a piece of work in herself. Tracey is a moonshine-making hard-ass who readily admits she did a terrible job raising Tabatha, who wound up pretty good in spite of it all. Tracey is played by Jennifer Ehle — a long way removed from playing Elizabeth Bennet in the 1995 miniseries of “Pride and Prejudice” — who gives a quietly intense portrayal of a mom staring her regrets down and coming to terms with them.

Beecroft and cinematographer Austin Shelton, both making their feature debuts, beautifully capture the rough beauty of the South Dakota plains and badlands. They also find similar beauty in the people like Tabatha and Porshia who make their homes there, embodying the land’s uncompromising spirit.

That spirit shines through every moment Tabatha and Porshia are on the screen. Some may dismiss their casting, saying they’re playing themselves — but we all play ourselves every day, for audiences as small as our immediate family. They’re doing it on the screen, for who knows how many viewers, and they triumph in those impressive roles.

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‘East of Wall’

★★★1/2

Opens Friday, August 15, at the Broadway Centre Cinemas (Salt Lake City). Rated R for language throughout. Running time: 98 minutes.