Francis Juarez

Francis Juarez made a wild entrance into cinema with Crazy Texas (2025), a film that doesn’t really care for your expectations. The story’s set against the sunburnt backdrop of rural Texas, where nothing’s ever as simple as it looks, and the locals have their own brand of madness (and that’s putting it nicely). Juarez dives into the chaos of a small town on the verge of collapse, not from some dramatic disaster, but honestly, just because of its residents’ questionable life choices and the relentless Texas heat frying everyone’s brains. You’ve got characters that range from dangerously ambitious rodeo queens to conspiracy-theorist bartenders, all tangled up in a plot that’s as unpredictable as a tumbleweed in a tornado. The town’s main event—a “World’s Largest Barbecue” that’s basically an excuse for everyone to air their dirty laundry—turns into a powder keg when a long-lost family member rolls back into town, dragging secrets and bad blood behind him. Juarez doesn’t shy away from the ridiculous or the heartfelt, and you’ll find yourself laughing one minute, then feeling weirdly moved the next. The film is a love letter to the messy, stubborn spirit of small-town Texas, but it never gets sappy. Instead, it leans into the absurdity, letting the characters’ quirks and grudges drive everything straight off the rails. It’s sharp, it’s rowdy, and it’s got the kind of energy that makes you want to grab a cold drink and watch the chaos unfold.