In the upcoming drama Land, Oscar-nominated, Mexican-American actor Demián Bichir (A Better Life) stars as a hunter in Wyoming who comes across someone who needs his help.
After tragedy strikes, an emotionally scarred woman, Edee Mathis (Robin Wright, who is also making her directorial debut), leaves her former life behind to live in the mountains. In the first trailer for the film, however, it looks like nature has gotten the best of her.
Unable to share her feelings with other people, Edee chooses to become a recluse in a log cabin where she must learn how to fend for herself. But with little know-how on how to survive in the wild, Edee is overcome by the harsh weather, predators and her painful memories.
Bichir’s unnamed character finds Edee at her most fragile and decides he wants to do what he can to show her how to live off the land. “If it’s alright, I will teach you how to trap and, in the fall, to hunt,” Bichir’s character tells Edee. “And then you won’t see me anymore.”
Scenes in the trailer show him walking with her through the snow-covered wilderness and using a rifle to kill her next meal. Edee asks that during her training, he doesn’t tell her any news happening in the world. Bichir’s character jokes, “What if aliens land here?”
While the trailer doesn’t offer Bichir’s character’s name, we do learn that he, too, has experienced tragedy in his life. His wife and daughter were killed in a car accident. Knowing this seems to connect him and Edee on a deeper level.
As the trailer continues, we see Edee chopping wood, gutting fish and doing other forms of hard labor around her new home. “Have you thought about what you want your life to be now?” Bichir’s character asks her.
Whatever the answer may be, it’s evident Edee is better off with someone like Bichir guiding the way.
Land will make its world premiere at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival next month and then hit theaters Feb. 12.