RATING: A

An ESX Entertainment production in association with Lila Lane Pictures. Directed by Juan Pablo Arias Munoz. Produced by Daniel Aspromonte, Christina Moore, and Ava Rettke. Written by Juan Pablo Arias Munoz,Sherell Jackson, Lauren Swickard, and Alex Ranarivelo; based on characters created by Lauren Swickard. Cinematography by Reuben Steinberg. Edited by Brett Hedlund. 

Stars John Pyper-Ferguson, Madison Lawlor, Christina Moore, Javier Bolanos, Kate Mansi, Daniel Edward Mora, Loren Escandon, Lauren Swickard, with Bruce Davison, and Lou Diamond Phillips. 

A woman returns home to her family and comes to terms with both her family and pressure from competition where pride can come at a cost.

Sawyer Clarkman is a rancher who is on the brink of death. He sends for his estranged daughter Hassie to return to make amends. However, he also has a problem. Roy Reyes, a fellow rancher, is looking to buy the Clarkman’s land in order to extract lithium, which can result in a $2.5 billion industry. Sawyer refutes the offer amidst rumors he has heard about Reyes’ shady dealings. However, Reyes doesn’t plan to just accept the loss.

When Hassie returns to the farm, she learns the truth about what’s been going on. Reyes, looking to get the land at any cost, goes to great lengths to make sure he gets the land. Sawyer, determined to keep the land at any cost, is also determined to ensure that his daughter’s dark secret remains unsolved. When Sawyer slowly succumbs to his illness, an all-out war for the land is set between the two factions. Who will come out on top and who will fall?

A continuation of the 2023 five-episode Amazon series, this thriller definitely has the vibes of recent hit shows like Yellowstone and Landman in terms of its execution. However, it also stands as a standalone film if you had not seen the series as of yet, The story of a family whose patriarch is slowly dying and the choices he makes to keep his land and to bring back his estranged daughter along with the rival landowner who will stop at nothing to get what he wants churns out some amazing performances from the cast thanks to the script by director Juan Pablo Arias Munoz and Sherell Jackson, co-creator Lauren Swickard, and Alex Ranirivelo. 

What’s very interesting is that there are members on both sides of the family that want things to go right and as a result, seem to play off on the other side not so much as acts of betrayal but to ensure things go well and done right. On one side, we have the Clarkman family, led by John Pyper-Ferguson’s dying Sawyer, who is determined to keep his land and even bring back his estranged daughter Cassie. Played by an excellent Madison Lawlor, we see Hassie in the opening scene having nightmares about an incident where she was forced to protect her boyfriend, an undocumented immigrant, which led to the estrangement. 

On the other side, we have the Reyes family, led by a slick and later seething Lou Diamond Phillips. Reyes, after being denied the Clarkman land, reneges on a promise to his intelligent son, and resorts to very shady tactics to get what he wants. And that includes murder. When the war breaks out, there will be casualties and this leads to a shocking finale that brings everything together. 

Casa Grande is an excellent film in the vein of Yellowstone and Landman thanks to the excellent performances of the cast and twists and turns within the double family dynamic. If you’re a fan of these two shows, then this is right up your alley. In fact, it would lead me to actually watch the series. 

The film will be in select theaters on May 1.