The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada (2005)

116 min · Late Western, Social Drama, Western film, drama film

Popularity4.5/5

12-month trendExpand

12-month trend

Monthly article views

Sep4.8kOct4.1kNov4.1kDec5.2kJan12kFeb4.9kMar4.7kApr4.4kMay4.1kJun12kJul9.4kAug5.3k

2025-09 to 2026-08

Directors

Tommy Lee Jones

Cast

Tommy Lee Jones, Barry Pepper, Julio Cedillo, Dwight Yoakam, January Jones, Melissa Leo, Levon Helm, Mel Rodriguez, Cecilia Suárez, Ignacio Guadalupe, Vanessa Bauche

The story

Melquiades Estrada, a Mexican illegal immigrant working in Texas as a cowboy, shoots at a coyote which is menacing his small flock of goats. A nearby United States Border Patrol officer, Mike Norton, thinks he is being attacked and shoots, killing Melquiades. Norton buries Melquiades and does not report anything about the event.

Catalogue themes and tags

2000s, Accidental Death, Afterlife, Antifreeze, Border Patrol, Coyote, Death of a friend, Ermordung, Familie, Frauenleiche, Friendship, Funeral, Gegenwart, Goat, Husband Wife Relationship, Hustler, Illegal Immigration, Immigrant, Immigration, Just Married, Kumpels, Last Respects, Marriage, Marriage Crisis, Mexico, Mord ohne Leiche, Mule, Mummy, Pauper's grave, Polizeibeamter, Prosecution, Prostitute, Shepherd, Texas, United States–Mexico Barrier, Wüste, bester Freund, Crime Fiction, Action/Adventure, Western, Drama

Genres

Late Western, Social Drama, Western film, drama film

Find trailer on YouTube ↗ Plot source & revision Wikipedia Wikidata Open Media Database Permalink

Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.

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Movie themes

Stories and ideas20 themes

Genres and styles38 themes