You don’t have to experience loss in real life to fully appreciate the beauty that is Land, Robin Wright’s directorial debut.
Land explores how one woman (Wright) copes with tragedy by escaping to the middle of nowhere. No traffic. No cell phone. Just sunshine and… catastrophic snowfall. Feeling like her pain is a burden, Wright runs away completely unprepared for what life is like off-the-grid.
A stranger (Demián Bichir) stumbles upon Wright on the brink of death and makes it his personal mission, despite Wright’s protest, to teach her how to properly function in the wild. A friendship develops and we discover how truly important and beautiful human connection is.
Land debuted at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival where Bichir revealed on a panel that his agent hesitated to send him the script. The actor lost his wife in 2019 and there was concern that Land might hit too close to home. Encouraged by the content, Bichir described the filming as therapeutic and healing. As a viewer, you navigate these emotions with him. You step away from the film uplifted by his character’s sweet spirit. I would even go as far as saying… changed.
Bichir tells The Knockturnal’s Kinsey Schofield that this movie is so important to combat the current political climate. “This is a much-needed film nowadays,” Bachir says. “You know, it’s about empathy, it’s about caring, it’s about generosity, it’s about healing, it’s about resilience and redemption so it’s really cool.” All set in such exquisite scenery that you envy anyone that sees it in a movie theater… which Bachir encourages you to do… “It’s actually a safe place because you know, all precautions are taken. Whoever has a chance to see it on a big screen… my goodness! They’re going to be overwhelmed!”
Land stars Robin Wright and Demián Bichir and debuts nationwide in theaters on February 12th, 2021.
Kinsey Schofield is a contributor to The Knockturnal and you can follow her on Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook.