Damien Conrad-Davis is Cpl. Israel Terry, a Union soldier who suffers a head wound in the Battle of Picacho Peak in Arizona Territory and is left behind on the battlefield when the rest of his patrol retreats.
Upon regaining consciousness, he realizes he still has his map and his field glasses and sets out on foot, hoping to reach Union-controlled Fort Defiance.
That’s when he encounters a second soldier trudging through the desert alone. Shots are fired before the stranger convinces Terry that he means him no harm.
The stranger introduces himself as Moses Jennings. And since Jennings is wearing a blue shell jacket, Terry figures they’re from the same Army.
At Jennings’ urging, they decide to continue their journey together.
Turns out Jennings is an Texan. Turns out he was part of the Confederate forces at Picacho Peak. Turns out he shot and killed Terry’s good friend, a lieutenant, during that battle, then wounded Terry and took his shell jacket.
All of which strains the relationship between the two men nearly to a breaking point.
But it doesn’t change the fact that they’re stranded in the desert. Or the fact that there are Apache warriors about.
And so Terry and Jennings come to realize their chances of surviving are better working together than fighting one another.
Damian Conrad-Davis as Israel Terry, spotting another man in the desert in The War Between (2025)
Sam Bullington as Moses Jennings, cautioning Israel Terry about his head wound in The War Between (2025)
Review:
A very nice example of how to make an entertaining independent Western on a modest budget. Tell a compelling story using a small cast and modest sets.
There actually was a battle of Picacho Peak during the Civil War, on April 15, 1862. In fact, the battle scene that opens this movie was filmed on the same location as the actual skirmish.
The film’s central message, unity for the common good, is also timely given the political climate in the U.S., a point director Deborah Correa and writer Ron Yungul have made in interviews.
Yungul says he initially envisioned an even smaller project — a two-actor survival film. More cast members were added as the scope of the project grew. “The War Between” marks Correa’s first feature-length film.
The film’s biggest flaw: multiplying implausibilities. It’s plausible that a Union officer and Confederate private would meet after a confusing skirmish scattered their forces. It’s a hell of a coincidence that the Confederate winds up being the very man who wounded the Union officer and killed his friend. And is now wearing the Union officer’s shell jacket.
Then comes the expanded cast that includes a wife who sets out alone to find her husband while he’s serving in the Civil War, an outcast Apache who winds up helping the two soldiers, and a group of Navajo who do the same, despite having recently chased the army out of Fort Defiance.
In the case of this film, smaller might have been better.
Essa O’Shea as Charlotte Terry, watching over her ill son in The War Between (2025)
Wayne Charles Baker as Great Seer, an outcast Apache trying to restore his good name in The War Between (2025)
Directed by:
Deborah Correa
Cast
Damian Conrad-Davis … Cpl. Israel Terry
Sam Bullington … Moses Jennings
Wayne Charles Baker … Great Seer
Essa O’Shea … Charlotte Terry
Robert Peters … Colonel Canby
Tank Jones … Atticus
Carson Rapsilver … Bushwacker
Israel Alexander … Bushwacker
Chris Cleveland … 1st Sgt. John Baker
Tony Eckstat … Army surgeon
Abe Ruthless … Reeves
Levis Ashe … Buttons
Runtime: 97 min.
Tank Jones as Atticus, the former slave who followed Israel Terry to California in a search for gold in The War Between (2025)
Robert Peters as Col. Canby, talking to Charlotte Terry in The War Between (2025)
Memorable lines:
Israel Terry: “Your tunic is army blue as are my trousers. Do I belong to your army and you to mine?”
Moses Jennings: “Fair assumption.”
Israel Terry: “Who’s side are you on?”
Moses Jennings: “My side.”
Terry: “I know what you are.”
Jennings: “What?”
Terry: “A damn insurrectionist. And a thief.”
Israel Terry: “You are forever questioning my judgment. You practically slobber like a famished dog over the opportunity to do so. I’m sick of it. And I’ll break you, private.”
Moses Jennings: “In whose army?”
Terry: “The only army that counts, you son of a bitch.”
Israel Terry: “Where’d you get the Henry (rifle)?”
Great Seer, an outcast Apache: “The monsters that invade our land bring many marvelous things.”
Israel Terry: “He’s my enemy. I almost forgot that.”
Great Seer: “What would it cost you to forget it?”
Terry: “My honor.”
Sage Nicole Hemstreet as the female leader of a Navajo band who have taken over Fort Defiance in The War Between (2025)
Tony Eckstat as the Army surgeon, inspecting Israel Terry’s wound in The War Between (2025)
Sam Bullington as Moses Jennings, watching over a home where four fellow Texans have died in The War Between (2025)
Damian Conrad-Davis as Cpl. Israel Terry, trying to survive the Sonora Desert in The War Between (2025)
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