Revisionist Western backdrop

Revisionist Western movies

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

Slow West

1. Slow West

Western Drama Thriller Adventure Romance
6.9
20151h 24min

Overview

In the Old West, a 17-year-old Scottish boy teams up with a mysterious gunman to find the woman with whom he is infatuated.

Themes

Deception and disguise, Isolation and belonging, Loyalty under threat, Frontier violence, Pursuit and protection of loved ones, Vengeance and its costs

Available on

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

The Keeping Room

2. The Keeping Room

Western Drama Revisionist Western Historical Drama
6.0
20141h 35min

Overview

In this radically reimagined American Western set towards the end of the Civil War, Southerner Augusta encounters two renegade, drunken soldiers who are on a mission of pillage and violence. After escaping an attempted assault, Augusta races back to the isolated farmhouse that she shares with her sister Louise and their female slave Mad. When the pair of soldiers track Augusta down intent on exacting revenge, the trio of women are forced to take up arms to fend off their assailants, finding ways to resourcefully defend their home––and themselves––as the escalating attacks become more unpredictable and relentless.

Themes

Home invasion, Civil war, Union army, Rape trauma, Survival under siege, Gendered resistance under fire

Available on

Amazon Video
Apple TV
AMC Plus Apple TV Channel
Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.

Frontera

3. Frontera

Western Drama Revisionist Western Psychological Drama
6.6
20141h 43min

Overview

After crossing the border illegally for work, Miguel, a hard-working father and devoted husband, finds himself wrongfully accused of murdering a former sheriff’s wife. After learning of his imprisonment, Miguel’s pregnant wife tries to come to his aid and lands in the hands of corrupt coyotes who hold her for ransom. Dissatisfied with the police department’s investigation, the former sheriff tries to uncover the truth about his wife’s death and discovers disturbing evidence that will destroy one family’s future, or tear another’s apart.

Themes

Family resilience under pressure, Hostage dynamics, Illegal border crossing, Investigative tension, Pregnant wife, Corrupt coyotes

Available on

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

A Million Ways to Die in the West

4. A Million Ways to Die in the West

Comedy Western Parody Revisionist Western
6.1
20141h 56min

Overview

As a cowardly farmer begins to fall for the mysterious new woman in town, he must put his new-found courage to the test when her husband, a notorious gun-slinger, announces his arrival.

Themes

Courage under pressure, Disguise and deception, Gender dynamics and agency, Duel culture disruption, Misadventure and improvisation, Reputation and respect

Available on

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

The Homesman

5. The Homesman

Western Drama Revisionist Western Historical Drama
6.6
20142h 2min

Overview

When three women living on the edge of the American frontier are driven mad by harsh pioneer life, the task of saving them falls to the pious, independent-minded Mary Bee Cuddy. Transporting the women by covered wagon to Iowa, she soon realizes just how daunting the journey will be, and employs a low-life drifter, George Briggs, to join her. The unlikely pair and the three women head east, where a waiting minister and his wife have offered to take the women in. But the group first must traverse the harsh Nebraska Territories marked by stark beauty, psychological peril and constant threat.

Themes

Trauma and resilience, Violence and survival, Authority and betrayal, Gendered duty, Prairie isolation, Frontier independence

Available on

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

Sweetwater

6. Sweetwater

Western Thriller Revisionist Western Revenge Thriller
6.2
20131h 36min

Overview

In the late 1800s, a fanatical religious leader, a renegade Sheriff, and a former prostitute collide in a blood triangle on the rugged plains of the New Mexico Territory.

Themes

Frontier justice, Uneasy alliance, Religious fundamentalism, Coercive authority, Pursuit of vengeance, Remote isolation

Available on

Amazon Prime Video
Amazon Video
The Roku Channel
Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.

Django Unchained

7. Django Unchained

Drama Western Revisionist Western Tragic Drama
8.5
20122h 45min

Overview

With the help of a German bounty hunter, a freed slave sets out to rescue his wife from a brutal Mississippi plantation owner.

Themes

Deception under pressure, Racial hierarchy, Wealth and dominance, Violence in the south, Loyalty under power, Freedom versus coercion

Available on

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

Lawless

8. Lawless

Crime Drama Western Organized Crime Historical Drama
7.2
20121h 55min

Overview

In 1931, the Bondurant brothers of Franklin County, Virginia, run a multipurpose backwoods establishment that hides their true business — bootlegging. Middle brother Forrest is the brain of the operation; older Howard is the brawn, and younger Jack, the lookout. Though the local police have taken bribes and left the brothers alone, a violent war erupts when a sadistic lawman from Chicago arrives and tries to shut down the Bondurants operation.

Themes

Loyalty under pressure, Violence as control, Corruption and bribery, Prohibition era crime, Front business deception, Transition to legitimacy

Available on

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

Cowboys & Aliens

9. Cowboys & Aliens

Action Science Fiction Thriller Western Epic Action
6.0
20111h 59min

Overview

A stranger stumbles into the desert town of Absolution with no memory of his past and a futuristic shackle around his wrist. With the help of mysterious beauty Ella and the iron-fisted Colonel Dolarhyde, he finds himself leading an unlikely posse of cowboys, outlaws, and Apache warriors against a common enemy from beyond this world in an epic showdown for survival.

Themes

Frontier violence and law, Outsider loyalty and belonging, Resource extraction and resistance, Memory and identity formation, Alliance against shared threat, Indigenous agency and sovereignty

Available on

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

Rango

10. Rango

Animation Comedy Family Western Adventure
7.3
20111h 52min

Overview

When Rango, a lost family pet, accidentally winds up in the gritty, gun-slinging town of Dirt, the less-than-courageous lizard suddenly finds he stands out. Welcomed as the last hope the town has been waiting for, new Sheriff Rango is forced to play his new role to the hilt.

Themes

Deception and manipulation, Resource scarcity dynamics, Outsider adaptation, Performative leadership, Communal vigilance, Frontier justice and authority, Water politics

Available on

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