Brimstone

Two and a half hours of superficial suffering of the main female character at the hands of the main male character. In an epic western setting, predictably and anachronistically played out in four muddled acts, and without a creative filmmaking touch. The frightening moments alternate in places with scenes that are poor in logic and the narrative lacks secondary storylines that would give it additional layers of thought. It focuses solely on intensifying the evil in Guy Pierce’s character to the greatest extent possible without explaining his reasons. Brimstone is emotionally powerful and suffocating in places, but unfortunately it is a one-dimensional story like something out of a mediocre novel for housewives. And with a ridiculous climax. (25.03.2024)

If it wasn’t said in advance that this was a western movie, I would have thought that the Dutch director has laid the foundations for this story somewhere under the Alps. The locations truly encourage it. Okay, fine… Let’s consider Brimstone a western movie. A western movie, shot by a Dutch director with the support of various European funds and with American actors, who showed the best they are capable of. For example, Guy Pearce is truly the ultimate bastard in this movie, who makes you think for the first half an hour just so he can make you sick for the rest of the movie. Dakota Fanning shows how incredibly she matured as an actress, because she managed to play a partially silent role absolutely fantastically. Even the atypical narration divided into chapters makes sense, even though it is not completely linear. All of that makes Brimstone a very unique, very uncompromising and rather rough movie that looks like a western, but I would rather compare it to a raw European historical drama with an atypical cast and a touch of American environment. (03.11.2017)

To his own detriment, it deals to much with constantly increasing suffering purely for suffering´s sake. In this case, more than anywhere else, less would be more. The constant martyrdom of the central heroine caused by all men makes the viewer become indifferent, not disgusted. At the same time, this would fix even the biggest snag in the form of too long footage. In any case, as an impressively constructed drama of a (non) western with a patina of a fatal Greek tragedy about a loving "a little" misogynistic father and a "ungrateful" excellent daughter that love men too much. Especially because there are some moments of hypnotic enchantment and because of great acting of Dakota. (31.03.2017)

A story about womanhood conceived as a bloody drama set in the Wild West. The status of women at the time (almost every man, apart from one, see them either as cleaning ladies or whores – or both), the strength of the Christian faith and its interpretation are approached exceedingly suggestively. Not one ounce of humor, cruelty is taken to new levels, thanks too to Guy Pearce’s demonic reverend, who often steals the limelight in some scenes. The non-linear chronology of the storytelling works very well, and each chapter leads smoothly to the point and gradually answers the viewer’s questions. A masterpiece. (17.09.2017)

Revenant 2 – for women, but with a more sophisticated, non-linear narrative, and at the same time often quite gratuitous violence in an attempt to shock the viewer at any cost. It might seem that this female anti-western is about the role of women in the Wild West, but it is presented too black and white, or only black, in this case. It is a classic revenge motif, only atypically presented and unreadable. Underneath the skin, it looks much more like the director either a) had a difficult childhood and used his frustration for such a cruelly uncompromising depiction of explicit and mental violence, or b) wanted to flash across the Atlantic to show how Europe can kick the US in the balls, because no one is going to let a big production do that. It’s shot in an impressively non-mainstream style, with great performances, but the value of the message is very questionable at best. (04.04.2017)

Once again, the Dutch filmmakers pulled off a film with excellent atmosphere. Based on its running time, I thought it would drag on, but instead it just flew by. Guy Pearce was cast in the role of a slimy bastard, which was a perfect fit for him as usual. The story was told in an interesting way, kind of a journey against the flow of time, and it didn’t get boring for even a second. It’s true that there wasn't much action but when it did come it was brutal. The scene with the pigs reminded me of Deadwood and Mr. Wu. (25.01.2018)

Westerns are on the rise again, and filmmakers are realizing that they need to take a new approach. The European co-production succeeded in doing that and we get a film that's pretty gritty, very uncomfortable, and has a great demonic character. But the way the story is told doesn't really serve much of a purpose and doesn't give the film much extra. (21.03.2017)