Borderland

Mexico City cops raid an abandoned house, uncovering magical sigils and grisly ritual remnants. Ulises and his partner are ambushed by the residents, during which Ulises's partner is tortured and his eyes are gouged out before being decapitated. Ulises is shot in the leg and left alive to warn others to stay away.

Three Texas grads—Ed, Henry, and Phil—enjoy a beach bonfire in Galveston and decide to take a weeklong trip to Mexico. They hope to visit strip clubs and exploit the area’s lax law enforcement. The plan sets the stage for the danger they will encounter.

Ed is stabbed defending Valeria in a barfight and is cared for by the bartender. He quickly falls in love with her, and she becomes a central figure as the trip progresses. The group’s dynamics begin to tilt toward danger.

Henry arranges Phil's first sexual encounter with a young prostitute, hoping to loosen his inhibitions. Phil balks when he spots a shrine to Jesus on the wall, underscoring his moral hesitation. The setup foreshadows the moral tensions that run through the trip.

The group takes hallucinogenic mushrooms before visiting a carnival, which deepens the sense of danger. Phil, under the influence, provokes a confrontation with a carnival-goer. The moment foreshadows the later abduction.

As Phil attempts to leave the carnival, the man who tormented Ulises' partner offers him a ride and abducts him. The abduction confirms the reach of the cult and the danger facing the group. The rest of the group realizes Phil is missing and is in grave danger.

The next morning, Henry and Ed discover Phil is missing and begin a desperate search. Local authorities and townspeople are terrified of the abductors, and the pair team up with Ulises to uncover a human sacrifice cult holding Phil. Ulises explains that Phil has fallen into the hands of a group using Palo Mayombe to empower a Nganga.

Phil is kept in a shack on a ranch under Randall, an American serial killer aligned with the cult. Randall explains their ritual beliefs and their goal of sacrificing a 'gringo' to fuel the Nganga. The plan is tied to drug smuggling and making their operations invisible at the border.

Santillán tortures Phil, breaking his collarbone in the process. Phil prays Psalm 23 while Santillán invokes Chango to empower the ritual. When the torture fails to yield the screams wanted, Santillán bites Phil’s tongue, and the sacrifice proceeds to decapitation.

Ulises fights through the danger and reaches the ranch to intervene. He kills Santillán, ending the immediate threat to Phil before collapsing from his own wounds. The act allows Ed and Valeria to begin a counter-mission.

Ed, Valeria, and Ulises reach an old man’s house, where Ulises bleeds to death from his injuries. Randall and the remaining cult members arrive, shocked by Santillán’s death and the collapse of their leadership. The trio fights to kill the remaining cultists and survive.

Ed and Valeria risk their lives to kill the remaining cult members and then swim across the nearby border of the Rio Grande. They manage to escape the immediate danger by crossing into the United States. The border crossing marks the film’s escape from the cult’s reach.

A closing caption reveals cocaine found in containers with human hair and mass graves at the ranch. Over fifty bodies are exhumed, and Ed and Valeria are questioned after crossing the border. Several suspects remain at large, hinting at the scale of the operation.