While Western cinema has always been defined by themes of violence, justice, and morality as much as it has been by its sweeping visuals and cowboy characters, the mid-20th century heyday of the genre wasn’t exactly renowned for its hard-hitting or confronting realism. As the decades have rolled on, however, that sense of visceral authenticity has become more enticing to viewers who want to see the genre’s air of fabled American values dismantled in taxing and truthful illustrations of what life was like in the Old West.
The Western movies of the 21st century have appealed to this demographic, and the genre has become synonymous with gruelling intensity and shocking violence over the last 25 years. While some modern classics like True Grit and First Cow prove that lower-rated depictions of the genre can still thrive, the vast majority of Western cinema in recent decades has been R-rated. The best of the century so far has consisted of everything from spaghetti Western callbacks to biographical dramas, revenge epics, and even modern-set neo-Western spins on the genre’s rusted-on tropes and ideas.
10
‘Bone Tomahawk’ (2015)
One of the most viscerally violent and disturbing pictures of the century so far, Bone Tomahawk is a confronting, savage, and mentally scarring illustration of the genre. Accentuated with flourishes of extreme horror and brutality, it follows several men from the small town of Bright Hope as they embark on a trek to rescue three people abducted by a cannibalistic, cave-dwelling tribe.
A directorial debut of astonishing conviction and impact from S. Craig Zahler, Bone Tomahawk presents Western cinema at its most unflinching and raw. It takes a somewhat traditional captivity narrative of heroism and rescue, and imbues it with moments of ferocious violence capable of making even the most hardened viewers squirm in their seats. Bolstered by a litany of strong performances, a dread-inducing slow-burn tempo, and the incredible yet harrowing practical and technical execution of its most violent scenes, Bone Tomahawk soars as a bold and daring Western horror.
9
‘The Hateful Eight’ (2015)
From one Kurt Russell-starring Western thriller to another, The Hateful Eight tells a winding story of distrust, violence, and close confines intensity that stands as perhaps Quentin Tarantino’s most underrated movie. It unfolds in a haberdashery amid a snowstorm in Wyoming, with eight strangers taking refuge in the small lodge. With bounty hunter John “The Hangman” Ruth (Russell) escorting fugitive Daisy Domergue (Jennifer Jason Leigh) to be executed, every new face presents as a potential threat waiting to strike and free the criminal from captivity.
With its palpable, chamber-play atmospheric tension absorbing viewers in every sudden twist and violent revelation, The Hateful Eight thrives as an immersive pressure-cooker of rich and volatile characters simmering towards an inevitable eruption of violence. Tarantino’s mastery of gripping dialogue and suspense combines beautifully with Robert Richardson’s enrapturing cinematography and Ennio Morricone’s score to make for a masterful modern epic and a dazzling spectacle of Western cinema.
8
‘Hell or High Water’ (2016)
Hell or High Water is a raging neo-Western masterpiece that questions traditional genre notions of heroism and villainy. With their ranch in debt following the death of their mother and the bank looking to foreclose on the property, brothers Toby (Chris Pine) and Tanner Howard (Ben Foster) start robbing different branches of the Texas Midlands Bank to come up with the money. As their crime spree spreads, two aging Texas Rangers are assigned to the case. The film explores themes of generational poverty, the death of the American dream, the moral ambiguity of crime, and the cataclysmic failing of the nation’s economic structure.
With Taylor Sheridan’s brilliant and piercing screenplay, David Mackenzie’s absorbing direction, and a litany of exceptional performances, Hell or High Water thrives as one of the most engaging Westerns of the past decade. It recreates the atmosphere of the Old West in a contemporary setting, while subverting themes and character archetypes. It aims to illuminate how much America has changed, or at least how far detached it is from the idealized, often celebrated vision of the Old West. Effective, efficient, and exhilarating, it’s one of the essential movies of the 2010s as well as an instant classic of Western cinema.
7
‘The Proposition’ (2005)
Given that the genre is called the “Western” because it explores life on the expanding frontier of the American West, it stands to reason that most Western stories transpire in America, but that isn’t always the case. A powerfully ferocious and philosophical spin on the genre from Australia, The Proposition sees the genre’s essential themes of colonization and civilization, justice, crime, and even morality reapplied to an outback setting. It follows captured fugitive Charlie Burns (Guy Pearce) as he is given an ultimatum: find and kill his sadistic older brother in nine days, or his naive younger brother will be hanged.
Bereft of glory or heroics, The Proposition soars as an uncompromising immersion in the brutality of the time. This relentless illustration of desperation, depravity, and violence is emboldened by a litany of exceptional performances and the majestic yet merciless landscape of the Australian wilderness. Written by Nick Cave (who also provided the film with its intense and haunting score, alongside Warren Ellis), The Proposition isn’t just a tale of Western brutality, but an immersion in the callousness of Australia’s expanding frontier.
6
‘The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford’ (2007)
A criminally underrated gem that serves as a poetic and piercing Western drama as well as a thematically rich biopic about violence, celebrity, and obsession, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford is a highlight of revisionist Western cinema. Using its story to challenge genre norms and deconstruct the myth of heroism, gallantry, and honor in the Old West, it unfolds as a methodical and measured slow-burn. This wafting meditation on one of America’s most polarizing figures is also a gorgeous realization of 1880s America, courtesy of Roger Deakins’ brilliance.
With a 160-minute runtime, the Western biopic follows Robert Ford’s (Casey Affleck) initiation into the gang of his idol, Jesse James (Brad Pitt). Over time, Ford’s adoration of James turns to embittered resentment, leading him to hatch a scheme to kill the outlaw. Even in its striking eruptions of violence, the film maintains an air of composure. Director Andrew Dominik imbues the story with gravitas through his restrained pacing, evocative use of silence and narration, and the lingering sense of the wealth, freedom, and infamy deteriorating into something rotten and corrosive.
5
‘Killers of the Flower Moon’ (2023)
Blending Western ideas with a fiercely important documentation of historical events, Killers of the Flower Moon is one of the greatest movies of the 2020s so far, and an essential Martin Scorsese masterpiece. Set in 1920s Oklahoma, on the land of the Osage Nation, it unfolds as greed, violence, and cut-throat opportunism engulf the community following the discovery of an oil deposit under the land. Amid the murder and carnage, Molly Burkhart (Lily Gladstone) pleads to the U.S. government to investigate, unaware that her husband, Ernest Burkhart (Leonardo DiCaprio), and his family are the driving force behind the deaths.
Epic in scope, runtime, and thematic gravitas, Killers of the Flower Moon is a confronting immersion in a heinous chapter of American history, one that boldly showcases evil not as an enigmatic force of twisted genius or terrible power, but as simple greed combined with opportunity and self-justification. The decision to focus on Molly and Ernest’s marriage, founded on true love and mutual respect, adds another compelling element to the story. The result is an enthralling, albeit disturbing, Western drama that stands among the most commanding pictures the genre has ever seen.
4
‘Django Unchained’ (2012)
Recreating the slashing style and violent vehemence of spaghetti Western cinema with the technical advancements of modern-day filmmaking, Django Unchained is an enjoyable indulgence, a cathartic revenge flick loaded with panache and punch. Jamie Foxx stars as Django, a recently freed slave working with bounty hunter Dr. King Schultz (Christoph Waltz) to track down outlaws. In exchange for his help, Schultz agrees to help Django reunite with his wife, Broomhilda (Kerry Washington), who has been sold to the plantation of the notoriously cruel Calvin Candie (Leonardo DiCaprio).
Django Unchained successfully blends together the adventure and amorality of the spaghetti Westerns of old while incorporating periods of sustained suspense and outbursts of hilarious black comedy into the fold. The result is 165 minutes of outrageous, unadulterated fun. It displays the genre at its most exuberant and excessive, making for one of the most relentlessly entertaining movies of the century so far, and a soaring highlight in Quentin Tarantino’s filmography.
3
‘Brokeback Mountain’ (2005)
Stoic masculinity blanketing any notion of emotional vulnerability has long been a defining characteristic of Western drama. It is an idea that is brilliantly used in 2005’s Brokeback Mountain, an ingenious marriage of neo-Western and queer romance storytelling based on Annie Proulx’s short story of the same name. It follows the forbidden love that blossoms between sheep herders Ennis Del Mar (Heath Ledger) and Jack Twist (Jake Gyllenhaal) over a summer together in 1963. While both men return to their homes and marry their girlfriends, the passion they shared on Brokeback Mountain never leaves them, complicating their lives as their sporadic romance carries on for years.
It may be an unconventional Western, especially as it secures its R-rating through sexual content and coarse language more so than violence, but Brokeback Mountain embodies the defining characteristics of the genre. It presents a picture of sweeping, naturalistic majesty while tackling themes of masculinity, repressed emotions, and isolation. Anchored by two outstanding lead performances and Ang Lee’s deft direction, Brokeback Mountain endures as a piercing romantic drama, and one of the most ambitious, tender, and culturally timeless Westerns of all time.
2
‘There Will Be Blood’ (2007)
Despite there being some great Westerns from abroad, the genre is innately American, with the original Western movies from the ’30s through to the ’60s presenting a mythic version of the nation’s history. There Will Be Blood takes this air of myth and might and turns the genre into a breathtaking dismantling of capitalist greed. Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, it follows oil magnate Daniel Plainview (Daniel Day-Lewis) as he treks to California to investigate claims of an oil deposit and forms a vicious rivalry with the duplicitous local preacher, Eli Sunday (Paul Dano), in the process.
Through the story of Plainview’s posturing and ambition, There Will Be Blood presents American capitalism at its unfiltered, unfeeling worst, bolstered by Daniel Day-Lewis’s astonishing, transformative performance. The thematic wrath of its message of power and wealth and the technical mastery of its execution are among its greatest strengths. There Will Be Blood must be considered not only a triumphant Western masterpiece of the modern day but a defining highlight of 21st-century cinema at large.
1
‘No Country for Old Men’ (2007)
Marking a striking departure from the typical black comedy of the Coen Brothers, No Country for Old Men is an unfiltered embracement of pure neo-Western suspense. Based on Cormac McCarthy’s novel of the same name, it follows Texan hunter Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin) as he is pursued by sadistic cartel hitman, Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem), after stealing a case of $2 million from the aftermath of a desert shootout. As Moss relies on his wits to keep the money and his life, Sheriff Bell (Tommy Lee Jones) tries to piece it all together, even as he reflects on the many ways the world has changed since he was young.
No Country for Old Men isn’t just the best Western of the 21st century; it is one of the greatest revisionist Westerns in cinematic history. It’s a masterpiece of modernization that takes integral genre themes like morality, justice, and law and order vs. crime, and applies them to the more recognizable world of 1980s Texas. Defined by atmospheric intensity and absorbing, heart-stopping, suspenseful sequences, the 2007 Best Picture Winner is one of the greatest R-rated movies ever made of any genre.
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