Writer: S. Craig Zahler
DOP: Benji Bakshi
Cast: Kurt Russell, Patrick Wilson, Matthew Fox, Richard Jenkins
Four men set out in the Wild West to rescue a group of captives from cannibalistic cave dwellers.
It is a straight up Western set after the end of civil war and to be more specific in the 1890s. I didn't know that the concept of frontier towns existed in US that late. The white Americans don't make much distinction between the usual Red Indian tribes that they encounter and the cannibalistic clan that they are dealing with in this film. The colonization of America is these days depicted in an overly apologetic manner as opposed to the whitewashing that was there in an earlier era. It has kind of swung back too much the other way as if all the Red Indian population was wiped off in a deliberate manner ignoring the role played by the diseases that their immune system was not equipped to deal with and the natural conflicts that would have occurred when settlers came in. Applying today's standards to historical events have got a lot to do with it.
This film focuses on the frontier conflict aspect with characters that are true to their historical settings. There is no attempt to sugarcoat things or be too much apologetic about it. This can cause it to be an uncomfortable viewing for many and it is especially famous for one particular gory scene. To be fair they give an early warning with the opening scene itself. It is a good watch overall even though it kind of peters out towards the end. The character played by Richard Jenkins is quite annoying as he was in 'The Shape of Water' as well. Video and audio being out of sync in the print that I watched didn't help matters.
Rating: 3.25/5
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