Prejudices Simmer in a Lonely Texas Town in Moody Thriller ‘The Quarry’ 

Alci Rengifo

“The Quarry” is set in a rural Texas town where racial tensions simmer like a slow boil. There is murder, subtle lust and broken souls at its core, all captured vividly with a pace that avoids bombastic clichés. Slated for a Video on Demand release due to to ongoing national theater closures, it’s fitting that some viewers may discover it in the more intimate setting of their homes. It’s patient but not slow, preferring to focus more on human behavior than violence. 

David Martin (Bruno Bichir) is driving down a rural Texas road when he comes across a drifter splayed on the ground. The drifter (Shea Whigham) is obviously a man on the run. Martin is a devout Christian and preacher who once had a rough past himself. When Martin attempts a discussion to get some answers and bring the drifter to Christ, he is murdered. Taking the preacher’s van and clothes, the drifter arrives in a small, local town expecting Martin to minister their aged, nearly abandoned church. The drifter decides to use Martin’s name and meets the local police chief, Moore (Michael Shannon) while staying in a room owned by a local, introverted Mexican woman, Celia (Catalina Sandino Moreno), who also happens to be Moore’s casual bedmate. But the preacher’s van is robbed one night by Celia’s troublemaker cousin Valentin (Bobby Soto). A hunt for Valentin results in Moore also finding Martin’s half-buried body. While the chief takes the young Mexican to jail under murder suspicion, the drifter surprises even himself by attracting quite a flock to the church by simply reading the Bible straight. Will he allow an innocent man to take the fall for his deadly, hidden sin?

Directed by Scott Teems and written by Teems and Andrew Brotzman, “The Quarry” is based on a novel of the same name by Damon Galgut set in South Africa. Actor Bobby Soto spoke recently with Entertainment Voice about the making of the film, which is still premiering despite a change in its traditional release plan. “We were supposed to have our big premiere at SXSW, but of course with everything going on in the world it was halted,” said Soto. “My first time seeing it will be when the world sees it on April 17, so I’m excited for that.” For Soto it all began with having lunch with Teems. “He invited me over and we started to get to know each other…he told me about the novel and I took it upon myself to read it. What really drew me to the project was that this is unfortunately a story that millions and millions of people have experienced, including injustices and prejudices, one person pointing a finger at another. I knew this was something I could really pour my heart into.” 

The resulting collaboration takes the Galgut novel, which involves the hunt for a fugitive in South Africa, and turns it into a parable of secluded America, where prejudices abound that are at times low-key. Chief Moore is sleeping with a Mexican, but rushes to judgment when it comes to condemning Valentin. He suspects the drifter posing as David Martin is hiding something, but it’s easier to attack the vagrant young Mexican. “The majority of characters I’ve played, for lack of a better word, have tended to be the underdog, or the bad guy who makes a narcissistic decision. ‘The Quarry’ is something with a whole different view on character and humanity. It gave me a sense of like, ok I am a Mexican, Puerto Rican, American, Hispanic, Chicano actor in this industry and I can actually portray the life of many other people who have experienced prejudice, racial discrimination. Growing up myself in Los Angeles, when I was in third grade, my last name is S-o-t-o, and when I was in third grade the substitute teacher called out a roll call. He said ‘when I say your first name, say your last name.’ And I said ‘Soto’ and he looked at me, he was a Chicano teacher, and he says ‘are you Mexican American?’ And I said I was, and he says, ‘why don’t you say your name with some love, man?’ I didn’t know what he was talking about, but it made me aware of layers of society I was just never taught. In America we’re raised to conform or to let go to become this idea of prosperity or making a certain amount of money, or whatever ‘the dream’ is.”

“The Quarry” is very much an ensemble piece. Shea Whigham’s drifter is the central figure, running from an unknown crime and then preaching to an arid, lonely church, even conducting baptisms, while Michael Shannon’s Chief Moore harbors an authoritarian streak towards a Mexican like Valentin, and Catalina Sandino Moreno is a portrait of brokenness. She stares at the drifter with the gaze of someone who has been disappointed by men all her life. This is a film about the feeling of living in a lonesome corner of the world. “They’re all genuine, humbling, beautiful human beings,” said Soto about the cast. “From Catalina, I remember admiring her when I was a kid, Bruno, I worked with his brother Demian in a movie called ‘A Better Life,’ and Shea and Shannon, they’re laundry list is so impressive. Being able to have my name on the same list as theirs, there’s no words to describe. You always hear, ‘don’t meet your heroes because you’ll always be disappointed,’ but when I met all four of them they were the kindest people in the world.”

“The Quarry” settles its conflict with a final showdown that feels like a reckoning. The drifter must confront his lie which could mean terrible consequences for everyone involved. But the last shot is a quiet one, full of the sense that in a place like this, life simply goes on, sad and alone. For Soto telling this story has given him the opposite result. “When I read the novel and saw how it would be turned into a movie told here in America, between Mexican Americans and other Americans, it led me down a rabbit hole of figuring out where we come from, and how we ended up where we came to where we are today. It comes down to being educated, having a sense of history and learning to prevent these things from happening and grow from there.”

 “The Quarry” premieres April 17 on VOD.