One of the strange things about our streaming ecosystem is that, even when a movie or TV show is eminently streamable, that show commands way more attention the second it becomes available on Netflix. The streaming service that started it all still has a unique place in out conversation about movies and TV, and that’s evident in how we prioritize catching titles that have arrived there.
Bone Tomahawk is one such title that arrives on the streamer on July 15. And, more importantly, it’s not a title you should skip. The film is a Western and tells the story of a sheriff who rallies a posse to rescue his town’s doctor from a gang of cannibalistic cave dwellers. Here are four reasons you should check it out when it comes to Netflix.
It’s remarkably graphic for a Western
Westerns were once the most popular genre in the world. They were the superhero movies of the 1940s and ’50s, but they were made in an era when violence was not often depicted on screen. The most you might see was blood from a gunshot wound, and even that wasn’t a guarantee.
Bone Tomahawk seeks to offer a slightly more honest depiction of the brutality of the Old West, and it’s known to be one of the bloodiest Westerns ever made. It does feature cannibals, so that probably shouldn’t come as a surprise.
It features a brilliant central performance
Kurt Russell would have thrived in the Westerns of the genre’s golden age, but he still gotten the chance to flex his Western muscles on more than one occasion. He plays the central sheriff in Bone Tomahawk and he delivers a riveting, carefully calibrated performance.
Part of the movie’s brilliance comes from the ways it reflects the dying of the Old West, when good men had to take the law into their own hands. Russell is the embodiment of that old idea, and he’s surrounded by capable, remarkable actors in all of the key supporting roles.
It’s a careful reflection on Westerns as a genre
While some of the best Westerns ever may have been satisfying in their clean morality during their heyday, there have been plenty of movies that have come along in the years since that questioned whether the violence and stereotyping that were core to the genre were as unproblematic as they seemed at the time.
Bone Tomahawk fits squarely into that genre, suggesting both that its central characters have some noble purpose, and that they are fundamentally violent men indulging their own urges for bloodlust, even when the violence that they so clearly crave may not be the best strategic move.
It features smart, crisp dialogue
A great Western should be well-written not just in its plotting, but also in how its characters speak and interact with one another. That’s definitely the case in Bone Tomahawk, and it’s especially clear in all of the sequences when less dialogue is chosen over my flowery language or speeches.
The movie recognizes that the men at the movie’s center are fundamentally men of action, and it never attempts to overburden them with more words than they might actually plausibly say.
Bone Tomahawk is now streaming on Netflix.
