Michael Porter

Any movie that attacks the disgusting hypocrisy of organised religion gets the usual attacks from its blinkered supporters. However this movie is far from one dimensional depicting extremely well the atavistic nature of our fellow men when control breaks down. Even now 150 years later brutality breaks out when we take our eyes off of the ever present dangers . Freedom is definitely a two edged sword. Guy Pierce is a great actor and in my opinion he never goes over the top in his depiction of this terribly disturbed , self justifying, psychopath. The Fannings are among our finest young actresses and Dakota here uses her incredible eyes to great effect. I would put this alongside Hostiles and The Homesman as one of the best recent westerns I have seen. Those who say its too long , watch it in four parts as I did . It allows each part to sink in properly.