Written and Directed by Jesse Harris
Starring Lucy Hale, Nicholas Gonzalez and Olivia Trujillo
Runtime: 1 hour and 42 minutes
In theaters and available digitally on January 14

by Matthew McCafferty, Staff Writer

If you were to come across Borrego while channel surfing in the middle of a weekday afternoon, you might actually find it pretty entertaining in that setting. Yes, I know channel surfing is mostly a thing of the past. As someone who still has live TV in the year 2022, I guess I can still get away with using that term. Midday television is a crapshoot that usually results in b-list celebrity talk shows, daytime soap operas and reruns of The Office. On the occasion where you come across a random movie, you usually end up letting it slide for all its faults. As long as it holds your attention, then it’s good enough to help you pass the time. That’s pretty much what Borrego ends up accomplishing. 

The story follows Elly (Lucy Hale), a young botanist who witnesses a plane crash in the Borrego desert. When she comes to the aid of the downed plane, she is captured by a drug mule (Jaime Aymerich) who forces her to lead him across the desert to complete his drop at a remote location. It sounds like it has the setup and the potential makings of something like a 90s action movie. Sort of along the lines of something like Cliffhanger maybe? Unfortunately, Borrego never gets close to matching the kind of energy and excitement that many of those 90s action movies delivered. Instead, it tries too hard to be something so completely serious that it ends up lacking any kind of emotional punch when it’s needed.

The stakes never feel very high. There are too many distractions that take away from whatever kind of stakes the film tries to develop. The main issue comes from the stiff acting. I won’t get into specific performances because I try my best to avoid going down that path of negativity when it comes to people who are out there working to get better at their craft. Although, it’s a huge part of the reason why this movie feels like it’s lacking in quality in many of its sections.   

I will mention that Lucy Hale and Jaime Aymerich are not the problem with this film. If anything, the movie would have benefited from slowing things down and spending more time with these two. They eventually develop enough chemistry to make you almost care about their unique partnership. That’s a pretty impressive feat for what they have to work with, which is a mostly predictable story that doesn’t seem to know its purpose.   

To end things on a more positive note, I will say that Borrego works as a form of mindless entertainment if that’s the kind of mood you are in. Like I mentioned in the introduction, it’s an ideal midday watch to stumble upon when you’re in an “I’ve got nothing better to do” kind of mood. I’m really not trying to take a shot at the movie with this description. It does enough to keep you engaged all throughout. The cinematography is also a standout, which includes some terrific shots of the desert. Just don’t be fooled by a trailer that works hard to make this look like the next No Country for Old Men or Hell or High Water. It tries hard to be those movies, but you will quickly realize that it’s not on that level.