R | 1h 53m | Drama | May 1, 2026
The Clarkmans could have been like Northern California’s answer to the Dutton family of “Yellowstone.” They protect their own and what’s theirs.
Also like the Duttons, the Clarkmans have buried their share of bodies, two of whom happen to be overzealous ICE agents. Everyone suspects that their makeshift grave lies somewhere on the family ranch, but finding them will not be easy.
This theatrical feature is the continuation of the one-season Freevee streaming series created by Lauren Swickard, who also portrays Reyes’s daughter, Rowan.
Prologue
As the flashback prologue explains, two ICE agents came looking for the Clarkmans’ ranch hand, Mael Morales (Javier Bolaños). When they became violently abusive, his not-so-secret lover, Hassie Clarkman (Madison Lawlor), was forced to fatally shoot them both in self-defense.
Her father, Sawyer (John Pyper-Ferguson), who is the Clarkman patriarch, and Morales’s father, Rafael (Daniel Edward Mora), the ranch foreman, disposed of the bodies after their grown children fled the scene. The Romeo and Juliet couple had lived like fugitives ever since.
Learning that her father faces a terminal diagnosis, Hassie Clarkman finally returns home, finding the ranch in dire straits. Cattle have been mysteriously dying at a rate that jeopardizes the Clarkmans’ contractual obligations.
Presumably, Reyes devised a way to poison them without leaving a trace. He covets the Clarkman land for a federal government-backed lithium mining project, but of course, stubborn old man Sawyer refuses to sell. Notably, “Casa Grande” follows the recent precedent of Salvador Litvak’s “Guns & Moses,” presenting another solar farm-owning green tech magnate, Reyes, as an openly villainous antagonist.
Taylor Sheridan’s popular “Yellowstone” franchise undeniably casts a long shadow over “Casa Grande.” Hassie Clarkman’s relationship with Morales parallels that of Kayce Dutton’s marriage to Monica Long (from the Broken Rock Indian Reservation) in the original series. Hassie’s tough-talking adopted sister, Hunter Clarkman (Kate Mansi), also bears some superficial similarities to Beth Dutton. However, Hunter is a somewhat more sympathetic and more believably grounded figure.
‘Yellowstone’ Lite
The drama of “Casa Grande” might play out like “Yellowstone” lite at least in its feature film reincarnation. But the politics skew considerably further to the left. ICE is vilified throughout the film, while the characters’ racial politics very much emphasize alleged economic divisions rather than shared values.
However, it consistently reflects a healthy respect for the traditional ranching way of life. There is also a grudging admiration for family devotion, as practiced by both the Clarkmans and Moraleses.
Pyper-Ferguson personifies grizzled grit with his flinty performance as the Clarkman father. Likewise, Phillips portrays Reyes with sinister charisma. Yet he also somewhat humanizes the villain, who expresses an inferiority complex resulting from the screenwriters’ unhealthy preoccupation with race and class. Reyes is a Horatio Alger success story, yet he still identifies as a victim, which, clearly in his mind, gives him license to commit unprovoked acts of violence.
Mansi contributes much-needed energy as caustic Hunter Clarkman, but Lawlor and Bolaños develop rather unremarkable, workmanlike chemistry as the fugitive lovers. Unfortunately, recognizable character actor Bruce Davison does not have much to do; he makes a brief appearance as Governor Grant, the elder Clarkman’s former crony and reluctant ally. However, Mora really elevates the film, embodying hard work, decency, and loyalty as Rafael Morales.
Ranch Life
Arias Munoz and his battery of credited cowriters (including Swickard and Sherell Jackson) nicely convey a sense for the characters’ rugged ranch life. Consequently, it is hard to identify an audience for the “Casa Grande” feature. While it regularly celebrates the Clarkman family’s defiant independence, it just as often demonizes ICE through blatantly manipulative tactics. Munoz and company seem to go out of their way to alienate all their potential audiences.
It is a shame, because Phillips, Pyper-Ferguson, Mora, and Mansi all contribute terrific performances. “Casa Grande” is not filmed on location in California, where film and TV productions have plummeted. Northern Nevada serves as an apt stand-in, providing an authentic-looking landscape and scrub brush.
The feature narrative is relatively self-contained and easy to follow for new viewers with no prior knowledge of the previous series, while still conveying a solid understanding of the Clarkmans’ long, complicated history and painful baggage.
Yet “Casa Grande” never rises above the level of a “Yellowstone” imitator. Not sufficiently successful to recommend in theaters.
“Casa Grande” releases in theaters May 1.
‘Casa Grande’
Director: Juan Pablo Arias Munoz
Starring: John Pyper-Ferguson, Lou Diamond Phillips, Madison Lawlor, Kate Mansi, Daniel Edward Mora
MPAA Rating: R
Running Time: 1 hour, 53 minutes
Release Date: May 1, 2026
Rated: 2.5 stars out of 5
What arts and culture topics would you like us to cover? Please email ideas or feedback to features@epochtimes.nyc
