Set in the Badlands of South Dakota, East of Wall is an authentic portrait of female resilience in the “New West,” inspired and played by the women and girls who live it. Tabatha, a young, rebellious rancher, who rescues and resells horses, must make hard decisions to deal with her fractured family, financial uncertainty of losing her ranch and unresolved grief, all while providing refuge and the skills of the horse trade to a group of wayward neighborhood teens.

“A stunning feature debut that captures the beauty and pain of the modern American West in intimate detail,” said Harrison Richlin in IndieWire. “Tabatha Zimiga may be playing herself, but she’s also giving an incredibly delicate, nuanced performance that harkens to the work of the 1970s American cinema icons like Gena Rowlands, Ellen Burstyn and Karen Black.”

Beecroft talked to NPR’s Scott Simon about the genesis of the project: “I was driving around the U.S.—this would have been maybe five and a half years ago at this point—and we were just trying to find stories, faces we haven’t really seen for maybe a short film… We were lost, and we landed in a tiny town in South Dakota called Oelrichs and a woman there said, if you want a really amazing story, head east of Wall and find a woman named Tabatha. And that’s what I did. And I found Tabatha and her amazing group of teenagers who live out there with her. And I lived with them for three years in order for me to learn everything I could about them before I even started filming this movie.”

Brimming with authenticity, Beecroft’s auspicious docufiction debut immerses us in the triumphs and trials of the Zimiga family while showcasing the beauty of the Badlands and the people who call it home. Featuring star-making performances by Tabatha and daughter Porshia Zimiga (already a TikTok star and rodeo queen), as well as awe-inspiring cinematography by Austin Shelton, East of Wall is a revelatory exploration of women who refuse to back down.