With westerns riding back on the big screen in greater numbers, we’re starting to see some twists on the standard genre formula. Feminist perspectives are breaking through in films like “Jane Got A Gun,” and though that picture faced an uphill battle to get made, the revenge story told through the eyes of a woman is not often seen in contemporary oaters. And that flavor is present in “Brimstone.”
Starring Guy Pearce, Dakota Fanning, Emilia Jones, Carice Van Houten, and Kit Harrington, director Martin Koolhoven‘s film follows a young woman who meets a fate of Biblical proportions when a preacher crosses her path. Here’s the the synopsis from TIFF, where the picture made its North American premiere earlier this year:
Liz has a quiet country life on a farm with her kind-hearted husband and children, but we immediately sense that things are too good to be true. One Sunday, a mysterious new reverend (Guy Pearce) gives his inaugural sermon, and Liz fills with terror; her past has come back to haunt her. Following the service, a local woman goes into labour on the church floor. Through no fault of Liz’s, the birth goes woefully wrong. When the woman’s husband seeks revenge, the reverend comes to the rescue of Liz and her family — though he warns that punishment will soon befall her. The next day, the family’s sheep are found slaughtered, Liz is sequestered, and her daughter is kidnapped. Thus begins a nigh-biblical sequence of events involving blood, fire, and an epic years-long odyssey spanning states and territories.
“Brimstone” will be released in the U.S. by Momentum Pictures in 2017.