Place of Bones

This was a decent western, and I am not into western movies generally due to the slanted views of Indigenous Americans and the Misogynist treatment of women.

That being said, I found this one watchable, but not without plot holes and actions by the women that seems off base due to their circumstances.

The male antagonist lived up to their roles of being of the same mindset of right-wing maganuts. So I commend them on their acting chops. I didn't like any of them, so they did an excellent job.

Other than some of the antics by the daughter and two gapping plot holes, I quite enjoyed this.

Oh yeah, the twist at the end was nifty and after it came up I had an Aha moment.

Canadian director Audrey Cummings delivers a successful Western that knows how to survive thanks to its good final stretch with one of the craziest climaxes of 2024.

It is a low-budget film and it shows in both its production and its set design, but with all that it manages to give a fairly successful film that is strengthened by having a fairly recognized cast that gives some prestige to a simple, straightforward and somewhat everyday script, but that is inspired in its final part to compensate for all the flaws that we can find with a truly mind-blowing twist.

The grace is in knowing how to solve the strong points of the script that allow you to stay away from all the situations that are happening, it knows how to use tension, drama and humor to always keep you up to date with everything that is happening, to then completely let go and give a pleasant surprise in its resolution to everything that was built up for us previously.

A film reminiscent of a low-budget Western that isn't perfect, that has many simplistic things and perhaps a bit of cheesy dialogue, but in the end it is an achieved result and we end up having a film with which we really have a good time without realizing it, a rewarding bet in its right measure.

I don't understand how people are giving this such glowing reviews. The acting is lifeless, it comes across as if they are actually just reading the lines. The dialogue is so cliched I can confidently say it must have been written by Yosemite Sam. The locations consist of one small house with barn and outhouse and one wooded area, that's pretty much it.

So after 60-80 minutes of not very much you get a very lazy shootout and a twist ending which really should have been the idea for the whole plot instead of just a twist.

Better acting or a better script, or better action, any of those would have raised this up to be a 5 star movie but all of them just fail.

A mother and daughter are struggling to survive in the wild frontier when a stranger appears in desperate need of help along with a bag ill-gotten gains along with a band of unsavory characters that put to test the ladies determination and strength. This Western thriller stars Heather Graham (Pandora), Brielle Robilliard (Hester), Corin Nemec (Calhoun), Tom Hopper (Bear John), Donald Cerrone (Minor Wilson), David Lipper (Ed Singletary), Gattlin Griffith (Cherokee Jack). The film is well directed by Audrey Cummings. Richard Taylor wrote this frightening and disturbing western that tapped into this western genre that you rarely see that we need more of. I mean just when you think the direction the film is going it turns on a dime making you think what the heck just happened. The music score just adds to this film it is so good. The acting is so good that I wanted more. Enjoy this film.

It is years after the Civil War. Pandora (Heather Graham) and her daughter Hester are living on an isolated desolate ranch. Her husband is dead and buried on a nearby hillside. They are always watching out for intruders. They find a wounded bank robber followed by more criminals looking for the stolen loot.

There is a flatness to this western. There is something missing. I couldn't put my finger on it until the final revelation. The movie keeps hinting on something sinister, but it never says it out loud until the end. I couldn't feel anything for any of these characters because I could never be sure about them. While the ending is interesting, it's a long flat wait to get there.