Review: Spare My Bones, Coyote! (RIDM 2025)

Spare My Bones, Coyote!, follows Ely and Marisela Ortiz as they search the desert near the U.S.-Mexico border for migrants in urgent need of aid and the bodies of those who were unable to make the journey. The Quebec feature-length documentary was recently screened at Cinémathèque québécoise as part of the RIDM Documentary Festival in Montreal with director Jonah Malak in attendance.

Ely Ortiz, a Mexican immigrant now living in the U.S., received a call in 2009 informing him that his brother and his nephew had died while attempting to cross the border. He searched the desert with his wife, Marisela, for two days before discovering their remains. This, of course, had a significant impact on the couple and Ely later co-founded the humanitarian volunteer group, Águilas del Desierto. The couple have now been searching the desert for survivors and the deceased for the past twelve years.

Apart from their searches, the couple also travels to Mexico to inform people about the dangers of crossing the border on foot. Though they are careful not to encourage anyone to make the trek, they know it is inevitable and attempt to keep people informed.

Director Jonah Malek spoke about the film after the screening and explained that he had seen a headline about Ely in the New York Times and was drawn to his story. Though it took some time and some convincing, the Ortizes allowed Malak’s crew to film their daily lives, which appear normal despite the continuous phone calls of people in need of help, which last from approximately 4 a.m. to 12 a.m. The crew spent three years filming sporadically and joined the Águilas for six outings in which they camped near the border and set out on daily searches.

The viewer is brought into the lives of the Ortizes in which pleasant banter is interrupted by the constant calls. Some are from people who are stranded in the desert, telling Ely that they have run out of water and are unsure of their whereabouts. The migrants' most recent contact was often a family member who would send Ely pictures or videos of the area they were in or had recently crossed. Ely explains that he has countless videos on his phone of people's last moments in the unforgiving desert. Though the couple are often in good spirits, it is evident that the job is taking its toll on them.

A Coyote is a term for a person who smuggles undocumented immigrants across the border, often for thousands of dollars. The French title for the film is Mais Où va-t-on, Coyote?–translating to “But where are we going, Coyote?”. Malak explained that the titles could not be smoothly translated between languages, and after filtering through a couple of names, he ended up with the English title Spare My Bones, Coyote! In Spanish, the film title is similar to the French one and is called ¿A dónde vamos, Coyote?–”Where are we going, Coyote?”

The film does a good job of portraying Ely and Marisela as the normal people that they are; normal people who happen to be caught up in something they feel is bigger than themselves. The couple also acts as a clear window into the scene as they do not play for the cameras or glorify their world. In fact, Malak explained after the film that it was quite hard to capture the intimacies of their lives and at first, the Ortizes did not want any cameras entering their home.

The never-ending job has taken over the couple's lives, and Marisela explains that her daughters are asking when she will be able to make more time for them. The problem is that they know that if they decide to cease their searches, nobody will replace them. The Águilas del Desierto is made up of volunteers, most of whom are connected to the issue in some way. The organization has aided over ninety people and found over ninety bodies along the border since its start in 2012. One obstacle that prevents the organization from helping people in need is that the volunteers are not able to transport them, even to the nearest hospital, as they can be charged for illegally transporting migrants.

Spare My Bones, Coyote! stood out as one of the strongest documentaries of this year's RIDM festival. The film, however, lacks a significant connection with migrants attempting to cross the border and does not show a unique or unknown angle in this area. There are scenes where Malak takes a creative approach to build the atmosphere with music and intense shots, though it is used tastefully, and is not overbearing like the artistic flair often used when a documentary lacks depth. Overall, Spare My Bones, Coyote! sheds light on a new angle of the ongoing conflict at the U.S.-Mexico border and is worth watching, if not only to get to know Ely and Marisela.

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