| “ | Welcome to the land of the free. | „ |
| ~ Sam after shooting some Mexicans. |
Sam is the main antagonist of the 2015 Mexican thriller film Desierto.
He was portrayed by Jeffrey Dean Morgan who also portrayed The Comedian in Watchmen and Negan in The Walking Dead.
Biography[]
Desierto[]
When a truck full of Mexicans, who were trying to cross the borders of the United States, breaks down in the middle of tun unknown desert, the group of Mexican immigrants are forced to walk all the way to the border led by "Lobo" and "Mechas", meanwhile an American hunter called Sam is in the desert near the border hunting for rabbits with his dog Tracker. When he gets pulled over by a border patrol officer, Sam gets offended by this action and asks the officer for any information about the immigrants' tracks he reported a while ago. The officer lets him go after a brief interrogation, leaving an angry hunter alone. After a while of driving, Sam stops the car and just looks at the desert in front of him only to see a bunch of immigrants illegally crossing it and decides to take it upon himself to solve the crime happening in front of his eyes.
The Border[]
The Mexicans have already crossed the border, one of them called Moises meets a girl called Adela who is accompanied by a man who repeatedly touches her and Moises defends her, after walking for hours, Moises, Mechas, Adela, her companion and a man with a heavy backpack (who Moises often helps) get left behind and Lobo ignores them. When Lobo's group arrive to a plain, Sam happens to be near them on a hill. His dog, Tracker, shows Sam where they are and Sam uses his hunting rifle to kill each and every one of Lobo's group including Lobo, while Mechas's group hides behind some rocks watching horrified the massacre. They spot Sam and escape but Sam also spots them. However, he has no clear shot, so he decides to follow them in his truck. Mechas runs leaving the others behind trying to escape but Moises stops him, Mechas says that he doesn't know where to go now, so they just move blindly through the desert.
Sam manages to get behind them and sends Tracker to catch them, Adela's companion is the only one who Tracker gets killing him by biting his throat, the others get on top of a rock to excape from Tracker but Sam spots them with his rifle, so they try to jump on another rock, Mechas, Adela and Moises get to the other rock but Sam kills the man with the backpack.
Sam follows the remaining Mexicans to a narrow road between huge rocks, with Tracker running after them they climb one of the rocks with difficulty, Sam also tries to climb the rock, he almost shoots Mechas but he falls and lands on the ground near Tracker, Tracker attacks Mechas biting his arm, Sam comes down the Rock and shoots Mechas in the head, Moises and Adela manage to escape from him, and Sam is unable to follow them.
At Night[]
Adela and Moises find a spot to rest, Adela confesses to Moises that his companion was sent by her parents to protect her and even though he tried to touch her he didn't deserve to die that way, Moises also confesses to Adela that he had already been to U.S.A and that he has a family waiting for him, he has a talking teddy bear which his son gave to him before being deported and Moises promised him he would bring it back. Meanwhile, on another place Sam rests on a campfire with Tracker, he starts talking to Tracker and says that he used to love the desert but now the heat is playing with his mind.
Morning Plan[]
The next morning Adela and Moises plot stealing Sam's truck, they use the teddy bear as distraction, Tracker hears it and runs towards the sound with Sam following him, just to find the teddy bear on a snake nest, Sam then realizes Moises and Adela are stealing his truck and sends Tracker to kill them, Sam almost shoots them but gets distracted by a snake climbing on his leg, after shooting it, he no longer has a clear shot so he runs to the truck, Moises manages to open the door just before Tracker arrives, they start the truck and drive while cheering but a bullet enters through the back window and hits Adela in the arm, Moises loses control and they crash. Moises gets Adela out of the truck and steals a jacket, water and the first aid kit from Sam's truck, then he helps Adela to walk, after a while Moises stops to take care of Adela's wound, then he tells her he has to leave her, Adela begs him but he still leaves, leaving the kit and water to her and he takes the jacket and a flare gun with him.
Sam and Tracker hunting[]
Tracker finds Adela's blood trail, but Sam decides to focus on Moises, so they chase him instead, Moises tries to call the attention shooting a flare gun but Sam spots him and nearly kills him, then he is forced to go through a cactus zone to escape from Tracker but Tracker manages to follow him, Moises uses the flare gun and shoots Tracker in the mouth, then escapes, Sam, after hearing his cries and witnessed him being burned and yelping in pain, had no choice by shooting him in the head (off-screen), thus ending his suffering, he swears revenge on Moises.
Sam vs Moises[]
After a long time chasing him, they climb on a rock structure, Sam is thirsty and tired so he can't shoot well. Moises hides between the rocks and as Sam is standing on an edge, Moises runs for it and pushes him, they both fall and Sam breaks his leg, having an exposed fracture. Then they both try to reach the rifle, Sam grabs it but Moises takes it from him. Moises in rage menaces Sam with the rifle as he begs for his life and asks for forgiveness but Moises doesn't listen, Sam begs for water but instead Moises leaves with the rifle telling Sam that the desert will kill him, Sam begs for Moises to return but he keeps walking, in pain and thirsty he insults him but begs him to return, in the end, Sam lays under the sun and it is unknown what happened to him, but it is more likely that he died due to heavy bleeding or dehydration.
Moises returns to Adela. He finds her alive but unconscious, so he carries her until they arrive at a highway.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- His name may be a reference to Uncle Sam
- Sam drinks Bourbon while hunting, alcohol dehydrates people which will explain why at the end of the film Moises has more energy than Sam