Photo Credit (Gettyimages)

After 1903’s The Great Train Robbery, the Western became the dominant genre for many years. Of the top ten most-watched shows in 1959, eight were of the 26 primetime “oaters” that aired. It wasn’t simply John Wayne and Henry Fonda who shot the scenes on the big screen. A star had to ride if they wanted to be famous, and everyone from Marlon Brando to Paul Newman to Frank Sinatra to Elvis Presley rode. However, it appeared as though the Western suddenly went dark.

The release of Dances With Wolves on November 9, 1990, breathed new life into an old subgenre. It was financially successful and took home seven Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Director (which went to the now-exonerated Kevin Costner). Since then, filmmakers of all stripes have tried, with varied degrees of success, to splatter morality plays and dramatic elements into the Western’s expansive canvas. The Western has been thriving in recent years meanwhile, thanks to directors like Quentin Tarantino and Alejandro González Iñárritu.

From 1990 onward, these are the best modern Westerns, according to our ratings.

35. Return to the Future, Third Part (1990)

As a meta-commentary on the absurdity of Western tropes and a pleasant little opus, the third and underappreciated installment of the time-traveling trilogy serves a dual purpose. This is a fine line to tread, but Back to the Future III does it with grace and style. Since the plot points were already known (the DeLorean requires fixing; nobody’s language makes sense out of time), the last installment of the franchise enjoys itself with a throwback confrontation between Doc, Marty, and the Tannen clan member best characterized by Yosemite Sam. In the first act, there is a terrific visual comedy with Marty’s outfit, but the last action scene is the most exciting train heist you’ll see in any epic, combining dust and horses. —Andrew Kyle

34. Beautiful Horses Everywhere (2000)

Many of the disappointed viewers who spent $8 on Billy Bob Thornton’s production of Cormac McCarthy’s critically praised novel may be surprised to hear this entrance. Miramax altered Thornton’s director’s cut and falsely advertised the picture as a forbidden border romance between Matt Damon and Penélope Cruz, so even Thornton would be embarrassed by its inclusion. However, the studio did not remove all the poetic elements from the experience of being a young, lost, infatuated cowboy on horseback during the crushing modernism of the 20th century. According to Thornton, he has his original cut somewhere, and All the Pretty Horses is a good assessment of both the present and the future. Mr. Labrecque

33. Bone Tomahawk made in 2015

A four-man troupe, consisting of Patrick Wilson, Richard Jenkins, Matthew Fox, and Kurt Russell, embarks on a slow-paced yet completely riveting descent into hell when a small group of people are abducted from an Old West village by cannibals who live in caves. The quartet gives it their all in this low-budget effort, and writer-director S. Craig Zahler’s use of antique language is delightful. We won’t spoil it for you, but in the third act, the tension in what was previously a tight cowboy film takes a shocking turn. The end product is unlike any previous Western—or picture, really. According to Clark Collis

32. An American Homeman (2014)

Unless you count dancing backwards while wearing high heels, Ginger Rogers did everything Fred Astaire did, according to an old saying. As a lone woman running her own farm on the harsh frontier, Hilary Swank gives us the Western interpretation of that concept here. Imperator Furiosa’s foreshadowing of her role as a “homesman”—a man who traditionally carried women across the desert to safety—occurs here. In order to complete the task, Swank forms an alliance with Tommy Lee Jones, an eccentric burnout who also happens to be the film’s director. Whether or not The Homesman can be deemed a “feminist” Western hinges on one’s interpretation of the film’s final portrayal of Swank, who delivers a tremendous performance nonetheless. However, those views are just stunning. —Holub, Christian

page 31. Melquiades Estrada’s The Three Burials (2005)

The picture that Tommy Lee Jones made his directorial debut with is dense on story and themes, and it’s wrapped in the kind of lived-in moral wisdom that Jones typically displays onscreen. Jones, the victim’s rough companion, abducts the border patrolman and makes him carry the decaying corpse of Estrada back to his homeland in Mexico to bury him properly after a border guard (Barry Pepper) shoots and kills the titular young Mexican goat herder. Strong performances and restrained direction elevate the strange journey to the level of a Western allegory about human dignity and personal responsibility, with elements of magical realism. According to Keith Staskiewicz and others

30. As Time Passes (2021)

Hollywood has skewed the Western in favor of white actors, but in his thrilling directorial debut, Jeymes Samuel reclaims the genre by casting an all-Black ensemble. The film is based on true stories and stars Jonathan Majors as Nat Love, a former lawman who seeks vengeance on Rufus Buck, played by Idris Elba, for the murder of his parents. A group of people, including U.S. After Buck’s release from prison, Marshal Bass Reeves (Delroy Lindo) and Stagecoach Mary (Zazie Beetz), the owner of a saloon, get ready to confront him. The Harder They Fall breathes new vitality into the contemporary Western with its dripping style and driving rhythms. —Jacob Kevin

29. Who Are These Bodies Anyway (2013)?

Casey Affleck and Rooney Mara star as Bob and Ruth, two Texas robbers from the 1970s, in Ain’t Them Bodies Saints, which combines elements of Bonnie & Clyde with a Greek tragedy. Ruth, who is pregnant at the time, is operating the getaway vehicle during a botched bank heist and accidentally shoots and hurts a police officer (Ben Foster). Ruth is able to keep their daughter while Bob serves time in prison; nevertheless, the good-hearted officer develops a gentlemanly interest in her while he is away, unaware that she was the one who shot him. The beautiful, lyrical, and tragic journey home that Bob takes when he escapes from prison to be with Ruth is pure Malickian pleasure. This is J.L.

28. “Rango” (2011)

Two of the most lavish Westerns ever shot were directed by Gore Verbinski and starred Johnny Depp. The Lone Ranger (2013) was one of those films, but that infamous bomb shouldn’t take away from Rango’s accomplishments. It’s one of the most carefree Western adventures since Howard Hawks’s original Rio Bravo remake. In Dirt, Depp plays the role of a lost city boy chameleon, an aspiring actor who accidentally becomes the town’s sheriff. Those who are passionate about Westerns will understand and appreciate Verbinski’s devotion to the genre. (Tell me another PG-rated film that celebrates El Topo.) Nonetheless, the way Rango employs CGI to give the Western a new glitzy, oozing grandeur is something that everyone can get behind. Adults and kids alike will enjoy this immoral pastime. You may have seen Harry Dean Stanton in a previous role as a bank robber, but it was Rango who turned him into a mole for the bank. Franich, Darren

27. Doubtful (2022)

Nope, Jordan Peele’s third feature film as director may be defined as science fiction, horror, or action, but it also has a uniquely Western flavor that makes it stand out. Keke Palmer and Daniel Kaluuya play the lead roles of O.J. Em and her brother, who owns a horse ranch that Hollywood uses, are siblings. When the horses start acting strangely one night, the ranch hands over control to a UFO, which then eats the horses. O.J. Simpson set out to videotape proof of it. and Em form a squad to face off against the hostile astrophysical entity whose origins are shrouded in mystery. Nope offers classic thrills filtered through Peele’s distinctively amusing (and thought-provoking) vision; it is filled with Western iconography and references to classics like 1972’s Buck and the Preacher. As K.J.

26. Western Slow (2015)

Slow West sounds like the setup for an odd joke: a German Irishman (Michael Fassbender), two Aussies (Kodi Smit-McPhee, Ben Mendelsohn), and a director and writer from Scotland (the Beta Band’s John Maclean) create a Western in New Zealand. A Scottish tenderfoot played by Smit-McPhee joins forces with a troubled bounty hunter played by Fassbender in order to find his love in the American West. Unfortunately, Mendelsohn steals the show with his fur-coated predator who has his eye on the girl, even if both actors are superb. The picture makes a respectful reference to Jim Jarmusch’s Dead Man, although it doesn’t get quite physical until the very end. Slow West, filmed fifty years after Sergio Leone’s Dollars trilogy, proves that great Westerns can be made by anyone, anywhere in the world. This is C.C.

25. As the Wind Blows (2018)

With this quirky anthology picture, the Coen brothers made a triumphant comeback to the Western genre. The film is structured as six short stories and revolves around various characters. These include a singing and shooting cowboy, an outlaw trying to avenge a botched bank robbery, a desperate impresario who cruelly trades one act for another, a prospector who nearly dies while digging for gold, a young woman on the Oregon Trail trying to recover from her brother’s death, and a couple of argumentative stagecoach passengers. Although you could find yourself rooting for a particular scene more than another, the film’s homage to the Old West is always fascinating. As K.J.

24. Dead and Quick (1995)

The original intention of Sam Raimi’s spaghetti western was to pay tribute to the genre, but the film had a female protagonist named The Man with No Name. Sharon Stone enters the town of Redemption on horseback in order to exact revenge for her father’s murder at the hands of Herod, a villainous boss. Because, well, he’s played by Gene Hackman, the villain who just needs a mustache to complete his spin. Raimi pulls out his full bag of cinematic tricks for this one—it’s like he owns stock in dolly zooms—but it’s the casting that pushes The Quick and the Dead to its pulpy, B-movie heights: Stone and Hackman lead the way—her steely determination a fine compliment to his devilish charm—but it’s contributions from Leonardo DiCaprio (in his pre-Titanic adolescence), Russell Crowe, and a cavalcade of Those Guys (Pat Hingle, Kevin Conway, Keith David, Lance Henriksen, Tobin Bell, Roberts Blossom) that vault The Quick and the Dead into essential cable-viewing fodder all these years later. —Rosen Christina

23. The 2012 Django Unchained

The Western went from being a popular genre to a prestige genre at the same time it was losing popularity. However, Quentin Tarantino fantasizes about an alternative, more rugged West. Django Unchained is an extreme homage to Sergio Corbucci’s political, violent, and insane cowboy films, and it shows that the director has a spaghetti-Western obsession. Unchained redirects the exploding grandeur of Italian Westerns into the exploding history of American racial politics, but Tarantino appropriates the name and title song from Corbucci’s Django (1966)—and includes a cameo from the original Django, Franco Nero. Jamie Foxx, in his role as Django, is more than simply a jaded cowboy hero; he’s an antebellum vigilante fighting a slew of racist stereotypes with Christoph Waltz, who gnaws on scenery. Candyland, however, is where the true horror lies, presided over by the wicked duo of Leonardo DiCaprio’s jubilant racist and Samuel L. Jackson’s astute colleague-servant. The United States of America is the only reason Django Unchained is so insane. Thanks, D.F.

22. The 2015 Mad Max film Fury Road

You need to rearrange some facts in order to see Fury Road as a Western. As an example, how dissimilar are the American West and George Miller’s postapocalyptic wasteland? Also, Max Rockatansky is a spin on Shane with a touch of nuclear power thrown in. It might easily pass for the most outrageous John Ford film of all time if a stagecoach were substituted for Imperator Furiosa’s War Rig. —Patrick P. It is Sullivan’s

21. Padre (2008)

At times, all it takes is being a fantastic classic Western. Instead of being a radical departure from what has worked for the past century, Appaloosa is a return to tried-and-true methods—the good, the terrible, and the ugly. As two hired guns who could pass for Wyatt and Doc, Ed Harris and Viggo Mortensen play the roles of Cole and Hitch, respectively. Renée Zellweger plays the woman who mediates between Jeremy Irons, who plays the deranged rancher who oversees the chaotic New Mexico hamlet, and the audience. The shoot-’em-up ends like it ought to, with the villain lying dead in the street and the hero galloping off into the distance, and Mortensen is really adorable. This is J.L.

20. [Year] Three

Making this classic, expansive, big-sky entertainment set in the Wild West of 1882 was the wisest move Kevin Costner could have taken following the failures of his seaside Western (Waterworld) and his post-apocalyptic Western (The Postman). Costner stars and directs the film as a cattleman who takes on a corrupt land magnate played by Michael Gambon. However, the role of a kind, moral rancher played by the legendary Robert Duvall receives all of Costner’s best lines and top billing. The 25-minute nail-biter that serves as the climax is hilarious. In a scene towards the end of the film, when Costner’s character confesses his feelings for a spinster played by Annette Bening, she tells him, “Do you know how old I am?” In response, he snaps, displaying the same appreciation for a finely-aged classical style that permeates his small-C conservative cinema. Following in the footsteps of the finest Westerns of all time, Open Range is an incredibly strong film. According to Joe McGovern

19. Presenting the Argument (2005)

Australian filmmaker John Hillcoat takes the themes of the classic Hollywood Western and sets them in the lawless, merciless outback with a fiery, elegiac screenplay by murder-ballad singer Nick Cave. Two of the three brothers Burns, played by Guy Pearce and Richard Wilson, are infamous, snake-bitten bandits who are apprehended by a tired lawman, Ray Winstone. Winstone attempts to negotiate with his prey while Danny Huston, the third and most ruthless brother, is still on the run. In what ways could things go badly? Pretty about everything in Cave and Hillcoat’s dusty, sunburned, plague-stricken no-man’s land Down Under. As a matter of fact, the thesis of The Proposition is essentially irrelevant. As one would expect from an author well-versed in Job, this is a story of biblical justice. —Scott Nashawaty

18. The Barebones (1992)

The squinting, shoot-first-ask-questions-later antihero was Clint Eastwood’s stepping stone to fame; he took John Wayne’s Monument Valley-sized take on the stoic Western hero and turned it on its head. Killing was Eastwood’s bread and butter for many years, and he made a tidy profit. After a long hiatus from the genre, Eastwood finally made a decision in 1992: he was either old enough, smart enough, or plagued with enough shame to face his violent onscreen history. Directed by Eastwood as well, Unforgiven is a disturbing and introspective look at the effects of violence on a man’s psyche. Played by Eastwood is William Munny, a retired bandit who is enticed to exact the kind of justice he never contemplated. Munny says it all: “It’s a hell of a thing, killing a man.” —C.N., and it sums up the film’s theme and Eastwood’s more humanitarian second act.

17. “Desperrado” from 1995

Robert Rodriguez carried on the saga with this more lavish neo-Western sequel after establishing his credibility with El Mariachi. Desperado is a violent, violent tale of vengeance starring Antonio Banderas as El Mariachi, the lone guitarist who saw the murder of the woman he loved in the original film. In his pursuit of the ruthless drug lord, El Mariachi befriends Carolina (Salma Hayek, in her breakthrough role in the United States), who assists him. From beginning to end, Desperado is nonstop entertainment thanks to its captivating stars and a director that isn’t afraid to get more dramatic with his fondness for violent violence. As K.J.

16. The 2020 First Cow

Telling the narrative of a guy and his greasy cakes, this subtly poetic film is among Kelly Reichardt’s most emotionally impactful works. In early nineteenth-century Oregon, a baker named Otis “Cookie” Figowitz (John Magaro) travels alongside fur trappers. He stands apart from the other men due to his introverted personality, but he quickly forms a bond with King-Lu (Orion Lee), a fugitive Chinese immigrant, and the two of them hatch a plot to steal milk from a wealthy man’s cow and sell greasy cakes. Although it has a quieter tone than other Westerns, First Cow’s themes of outcasts chasing the American Dream in the face of a lawless landscape are instantly recognizable as Western. As K.J.

15. A Bloodbath Is On the Horizon (2007)

Daniel Day-Lewis, who won his second Academy Award for portrayed the cold-blooded Daniel Plainview, gives a commanding performance in this grand Western-themed drama. Spanning the late-19th to early-20th centuries, There Will Be Blood traces Plainview’s ascent from exploratory silver miner to rich oil magnate and all the collateral damage that mounts up around him along the way. Although not strictly speaking a Western, Paul Thomas Anderson’s picture uses Western locations and ideas to depict a man’s insatiable desire for power on the American frontier. As K.J.

14. End of Days (1996)

The term “psychedelic Western,” used by Jim Jarmusch to describe his own film, is apt. Dead Man is philosophically daring and philosophically carefree, with many allusions to conventional Western themes (such as an outsider, gunslinging, a journey, and retribution) interspersed with a plethora of freeform diversions and surrealist touches. Johnny Depp stars as an accountant who is dispatched to the town of Machine for a job. However, he becomes caught up in a gunfight and, with the assistance of a Native American guy named Nobody, goes on a vision quest. Robert Mitchum appears in his last film appearance, and the ensemble cast includes Iggy Pop (as a transvestite fur dealer), Lance Henriksen (as a cannibalistic bounty hunter), and many more. As a kite dances across the western sky, Dead Man unfolds and carries on, a savagely poetic work that is both deeply respectful of Native American culture. Thank you, K.A.

13. Mausoleum (1993)

Inspired by Clint Eastwood’s other masterpiece, Dirty Harry—a Western set in contemporary San Francisco—and set against the backdrop of the wild Old West, Tombstone is a contemporary police drama. Kurt Russell’s portrayal of Wyatt Earp, who has spent his life taming the American frontier badlands through sometimes harsh law enforcement, simply wants to retire somewhere calm. The reason for their arrival in this haunted mining town in Arizona, together with his brothers Bill Paxton and Sam Elliott, is that they are engulfed in flames. Johnny Ringo (Michael Biehn) and the Clanton brothers are at the head of the town’s flourishing criminal elite, which has unfortunately been produced by fortune. The lawmen are forced to step outside of their professional roles in order to quell the anarchy caused by the “Cowboys” gang, whose red sashes are an obvious reference to modern gang colors. Val Kilmer’s explosive (and consuming) portrayal of Doc Holliday—a gunslinger, poet, and bon vivant—who spears his enemies with oneliners before filling them with lead—lifts the whole affair above the dust and gunsmoke. “Anthony Breznican”

12. In 2019, Bacurau

This bold Brazilian drama successfully fuses elements of science fiction and Western cinema to produce something completely new. After the death of their ancient matriarch, the inhabitants of the little (fictitious) Brazilian town of Bacurau grieve. A mystifying drone materializes in the skies, and the town vanishes from satellite images a few days after the burial, setting in motion a chain reaction of unexplainable happenings. Spoilers ahead: the film takes a daring stab at colonialism and small-town pride, and you won’t want to miss the startling revelations that follow. As K.J.

11. 2010’s Meek’s Cutoff

Of all the films here, Kelly Reichardt’s evocative narrative feature is the most anti-Western of them all. In fact, it’s almost the anti-movie. With all its bare bones exposed, Meek’s Cutoff delves into the monotony and unpredictability of westward development, revealing how violence was institutionalized and pervasive rather than limited to gunfights alone. Under the questionable leadership of Stephen Meek (Bruce Greenwood), a group of individuals traverse the vast Oregon desert in a caravan. The film transforms Manifest Destiny into an existential abyss, and Greenwood and Williams deliver stellar performances as skepticism encircles the gathering like a pack of coyotes. Thanks, K.S.

10. 3.10 hours to Yuma in 2007

Subtle themes in many Westerns include the struggle between civilized and barbaric ways of life, the place of the individual in society, and the difference between reality and myth. Story, though, is always front and center, and the Elmore Leonard-inspired screenplay of the 3:10 to Yuma adaptation is as taut as a whip. Christian Bale and Russell Crowe’s Ben Wade are a deadly couple as the sinfully alluring bandit and the wounded Civil War veteran responsible for carrying him to his execution. The biblical undertones of this disastrous road journey deepen as Wade persistently tempts his captors and his angry crew looms like the horses of the apocalypse on the horizon. Strange protagonists and the special bond they forge are central to the film throughout. This is C.H.

9. Unforgettable (2011)

Charles Portis’s Western oddity, which follows a young girl and an elderly one-eyed drunk on a quest for vengeance, was a perfect match for the Coen brothers’ deadpan style and wildly baroque language. Jeff Bridges, together with then-newcomer Hailee Steinfeld, gives the role his own marble-mouthed spin, even though John Wayne may have won an Oscar for playing Rooster Cogburn in the 1968 original. The cinematography of Roger Deakins also elevates the Western landscape to a level of evocative beauty. It’s rare for the Coen brothers to work with preexisting material in their films, but this one does it in their signature style, elevating and sharpening the material. Thanks, K.S.

8. A Star Is Born (1996)

Though it’s more of an existential murder mystery taking place on the Texas-Mexico border than a quote-unquote Western, John Sayles’s gloomy, decade-hopping mystery is nonetheless one of the most underappreciated films of the 1990s and his masterwork. Sam Deeds, played by Chris Cooper, is an inquisitive sheriff of the Lone Star State who is still reeling from the brutal death of his racist and sadistic predecessor, Kris Kristofferson, which occurred 25 years ago in flashbacks. In the process of uncovering long-buried secrets, Sam unearths a web of prejudice, betrayal, and forbidden love—a web that could lead him to implicate his own late father—the late Matthew McConaughey. Though expansive, Sayles’ plot is never unkempt. It deftly juggles multiple plot points, characters, and eras, giving it an almost novelistic complexity. You won’t want to break the spell it casts. Mr. C.N.

7. “El Mariachi” from 1993

Robert Rodriguez’s first foray into micro-budget feature filmmaking takes a Mexican spin on traditional Western filmmaking techniques. Arriving in a small Mexican hamlet, a teenage musician named “El Mariachi” (Carlos Gallardo) enters with sincere hopes of continuing his father’s mariachi playing career. Unfortunately, he quickly finds himself caught up in a perilous scheme when a drug lord’s goons mistake him for a wanted felon. For viewers who were raised on B-Westerns, the film’s clumsy production values, such as its excessive close-ups and goofy editing technique, are actually strengths. As K.J.

6. No Matter What (2016)

While most contemporary neo-Westerns fail to innovate in their storytelling, this exciting criminal thriller succeeds as an entertaining film and as a thought-provoking critique of economic worry. Taylor Sheridan wrote Hell or High Water a few years before he started his massive Yellowstone TV business. It follows two brothers, played by Chris Pine and Ben Foster, as they embark on a series of bank robberies to save their family ranch from foreclosure. The Texas Rangers, played by Jeff Bridges and Gil Birmingham, are chasing after them. This picture serves as a blueprint for authentic modern Westerns with its cat-and-mouse plot and gorgeous West Texas scenery. As K.J.

5. The (2005) Brokeback Mountain

Brokeback Mountain is structurally unrelated to a Western, yet it is an emotionally wrenching examination of the cowboy as a symbol of American manhood and the total failure of that image for two individuals. Despite the complete absence of gunfights, the picture is a must-see thanks to its four A-list actors: Heath Ledger, Jake Gyllenhaal, Michelle Williams, and Anne Hathaway. Brokeback was written by Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana, the authors of Lonesome Dove, in case anyone was wondering if it wasn’t a Western. From K.P.S.

4. Assault on the Flower Moon Villians (2023)

This epic tale of corruption and greed is based on real events, and it marks the first Western by one of our greatest living directors. The Osage Nation becomes unexpectedly wealthy after finding lucrative oil on their Oklahoma reservation; Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon follows this hedonistic journey. As part of their plan to seize the Osage women’s headrights, a band of white males is killing and marrying them off one by one. Leonardo DiCaprio plays the role of Ernest Burkhart, a white man whose new wife Mollie (Lily Gladstone) is bereaved as her family is slaughtered one by one. The film revolves around their relationship. Killers of the Flower Moon has a much more melancholy tone, while Scorsese still enjoys delving into the complexities of the criminal underworld. While most Westerns have focused on the rivalry between Native Americans and cowboys, this one makes viewers feel both the sorrow and the strength of the Osage people as they reflect on the hardships they overcame. As K.J.

3. Robert Ford’s Cowardly Assassination of Jesse James (2007)

The length of the title should not deter you. Another reason is because it reveals the movie’s ending. Observing the development of this stunning, dramatic, and ominous thriller is a delight. There may not be another picture that makes more effective use of Brad Pitt’s overwhelming magnetism than this one, directed by Andrew Dominik and starring him as Jesse James. He captivates and horrifies in equal measure as the legendary outlaw. Sam Rockwell, Paul Schneider, Jeremy Renner, Sam Shepard, and Garrett Dillahunt are among the supporting cast members, and Casey Affleck gives a remarkable performance (he was nominated for an Oscar). Plus, the cinematography by Roger Deakins, who expertly captured the waving grass fields, tense standoffs, and dark evenings, should be enough to convince you. —Vallkomerson Sara

2. The Influence of the Canine (2021)

The American West became the setting for Jane Campion’s latest Netflix drama, which delves into the director’s lifelong fascination with complex relationships and power dynamics. Set in 1920s Montana, The Power of the Dog is an adaptation of the same-titled 1967 novel by Thomas Savage. It follows the story of Phil Burbank, a vicious rancher played by Benedict Cumberbatch, who terrorizes George, George’s amiable brother, Rose, George’s new wife, and Kodi Smit-McPhee, Rose’s sensitive son. After learning Phil’s secret, Peter’s desire for vengeance intensifies as Phil continues to make Rose’s life unbearable. From then, a subtle but superb climax builds upon Campion’s subversion of standard Western clichés, setting the stage for an enthralling psychological game. As K.J.

1. In the Land of No Country (2007)

No Country for Old Men, like Cormac McCarthy’s Border Trilogy, is about the Western’s demise. The Western was based on the inherent goodness of man, the indomitable spirit of the human race, and the clear victory of good over evil. In this Coen brothers picture, Ed Tom Bell (Tommy Lee Jones) learns the hard way that McCarthy does not see things that way while he battles the embodiment of evil, Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem). When combined with McCarthy’s nihilistic tendencies, the filmmaking twins’ dark sense of humor creates an unstoppable Western. From K.P.S.