Revisionist Western backdrop

Revisionist Western movies

Westerns that challenge the myth: moral ambiguity, violence consequences, and critique of conquest and power.

The Ballad of Buster Scruggs

1. The Ballad of Buster Scruggs

Western Comedy Drama Music Mystery
7.2
20182h 12min

Overview

Vignettes weaving together the stories of six individuals in the old West at the end of the Civil War. Following the tales of a sharp-shooting songster, a wannabe bank robber, two weary traveling performers, a lone gold prospector, a woman traveling the West to an uncertain future, and a motley crew of strangers undertaking a carriage ride.

Themes

Economic precarity, Frontier precariousness, Loyalty and debt, Spectacle for profit, Mass entertainment ethics, Fate and chance

Available on

Netflix
Netflix Standard with Ads
Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.

The Nightingale

2. The Nightingale

Drama Thriller Western Historical Drama Revenge Thriller
7.3
20182h 16min

Overview

In 1825, Clare, a 21-year-old Irish convict, chases a British soldier through the rugged Tasmanian wilderness, bent on revenge for a terrible act of violence he committed against her family. She enlists the services of an Aboriginal tracker who is also marked by trauma from his own violence-filled past.

Themes

Trauma and resilience, Cross-cultural alliance, Colonial violence, Frontier brutality and survival, Gendered oppression

Available on

Amazon Video
Apple TV
Hulu
Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.

The Sisters Brothers

3. The Sisters Brothers

Western Drama Comedy Revisionist Western Historical Drama
6.9
20182h 1min

Overview

Oregon, 1851. Hermann Kermit Warm, a chemist and aspiring gold prospector, keeps a profitable secret that the Commodore wants to know, so he sends the Sisters brothers, two notorious assassins, to capture him on his way to California.

Themes

Loyalty under pressure, Betrayal and deception, Wealth and violence, Power dynamics and alliance, Frontier survival ethics

Available on

Apple TV
Google Play Movies
YouTube
Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.

Sweet Country

4. Sweet Country

Western Crime Thriller Drama Revisionist Western
6.9
20181h 53min

Overview

In 1929, an Australian Aboriginal stockman kills a white station owner in self-defense and goes on the lam, pursued by a posse.

Themes

Class inequality, Frontier justice, Abuse of power, Racial tension, Legal ambiguity, Gender violence

Available on

Amazon Prime Video
Amazon Video
Apple TV
Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.

Hostiles

5. Hostiles

Drama Western History Adventure Historical Drama
7.2
20172h 14min

Overview

A legendary Native American-hating Army captain nearing retirement in 1892 is given one last assignment: to escort a Cheyenne chief and his family through dangerous territory back to his Montana reservation.

Themes

Loyalty under threat, Duty versus mercy, Old enmities resurfacing, Frontier violence and retaliation, Justice under duress, Settlement and displacement tensions

Available on

Amazon Prime Video
Amazon Video
Apple TV
Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.

In a Valley of Violence

6. In a Valley of Violence

Western Action Epic Action Revisionist Western
6.1
20161h 44min

Overview

The story of a drifter named Paul who arrives in a small town seeking revenge on the thugs who murdered his friend. Sisters Mary Anne and Ellen, who run the town's hotel, help Paul in his quest for vengeance.

Themes

Loyalty under strain, Revenge and consequences, Vigilante justice, Past violence haunting present, Frontier moral codes, Law vs vengeance

Available on

Amazon Video
Apple TV
Google Play Movies
Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.

The Magnificent Seven

7. The Magnificent Seven

Adventure Action Western Epic Action Revisionist Western
6.9
20162h 12min

Overview

Looking to mine for gold, greedy industrialist Bartholomew Bogue seizes control of the Old West town of Rose Creek. With their lives in jeopardy, Emma Cullen and other desperate residents turn to bounty hunter Sam Chisolm for help. Chisolm recruits an eclectic group of gunslingers to take on Bogue and his ruthless henchmen. With a deadly showdown on the horizon, the seven mercenaries soon find themselves fighting for more than just money once the bullets start to fly.

Themes

Loyalty under pressure, Power and exploitation, Frontier justice under siege, Greed vs community, Collective defense dynamics, Moral ambiguity under violence

Available on

Amazon Video
Apple TV
fuboTV
Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.

Brimstone

8. Brimstone

Thriller Western Drama Revenge Thriller Revisionist Western
7.0
20162h 28min

Overview

In the menacing inferno of the old North-American West, Liz is a genuine survivor who is hunted by a vengeful preacher for a crime she didn’t commit.

Themes

Trauma and resilience, Silence and communication, Gendered violence and exploitation, Religious coercion and violence, Survival under persecution, Retributive justice

Available on

Amazon Prime Video
Amazon Video
Apple TV
Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.

The Hateful Eight

9. The Hateful Eight

Drama Mystery Western Locked-Room Mystery Revisionist Western
7.8
20153h 8min

Overview

Bounty hunters seek shelter from a raging blizzard and get caught up in a plot of betrayal and deception.

Themes

Betrayal and alliance, Deception under pressure, Class tension and suspicion, Hidden agendas emerge, Frontier power dynamics, Survival vs loyalty

Available on

Netflix
Amazon Video
Apple TV
Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.

Bone Tomahawk

10. Bone Tomahawk

Western Horror Drama Revisionist Western Folk Horror
7.1
20152h 13min

Overview

During a shootout in a saloon, Sheriff Hunt injures a suspicious stranger. The doctor's assistant, wife of the local foreman, tends to him in prison. That night, the town is attacked and they both disappear—only the arrow of a cannibal tribe is found. Hunt and a few of his men go in search of the prisoner and the foreman's wife.

Themes

Trust under threat, Survival under siege, Violence as necessity, Frontier lawlessness, Cultural collision, Grit under isolation

Available on

Amazon Video
Apple TV
Hulu
Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.