Review of Slow West (2015) by Mark Jay K — 18 Aug 2018

Nicely filmed western about a naïve teen that falls into traveling with a gristled drifter. The cinematography really is beautiful. The pacing and muted score give the movie a feeling of quiet and beautiful realism.

The pair have a series of random encounters as they pick their way across the desert towards the girl that the teen has followed across the ocean and into the harsh west. Each encounter is interesting, but not quite sketched out enough to stand on its own, and without quite enough of a thread between them to make it all come together.

It is actually a rather short movie, and could have benefited from more development of the relationship between the main characters, as well as with the side characters. Fassbender as the drifter is charismatic and fun to watch.

The story covers fairly predictable western material: Are there even more coldhearted men standing in their way? Is the drifter helping the boy or taking advantage of him? Do they earn each other's respect in the end? .

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