TL;DR –  A film that explores tension at every moment that leaves you sitting on the edge of your seat as it all falls apart.   

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene

Warning – Contains scenes of abuse

Awards:

Nominated – Beautiful Cinematography, The Emotion, All The Tension & Fascinating Worldbuilding.

Let Him Go Review –

It has been a while since a film has had me sat on the edge of my seat as the tension overwhelmed me. Well, today, we look at just such a movie that I was honestly struggling to find the right genre to categorise it. It is sort of a western but not, it is sort of a noir film but not, a detective hunt but not. But whatever it is, it was engaging from start to finish.

So to set the scene, we open in on a family in a full happy mode as they get ready for the day.  James Blackledge (Ryan Bruce) is out working breaking in a horse as his father George (Kevin Costner) watches on. Back in the homestead, his mother Margaret (Diane Lane) is making breakfast while his wife Lorna (Kayli Carter) is trying to corral their new baby. As James takes out the horse for a ride, everyone is working together, that is until the horse comes back without its rider. Three years later, Lorna is re-marring Donnie Weboy (Will Brittain), and she and her little one Jimmy (Bram Hornung/ Otto Hornung) go to move in with him. Much to the consternation of Margret and George, that is only elevated when one day Lorna and Donnie skip town without telling and take Jimmy along with them.

It has been a while since a film has had me sat on the edge of my seat as the tension overwhelmed me. Well, today, we look at just such a movie that I was honestly struggling to find the right genre to categorise it. It is sort of a western but not, it is sort of a noir film but not, a detective hunt but not. But whatever it is, it was engaging from start to finish.

So to set the scene, we open in on a family in a full happy mode as they get ready for the day.  James Blackledge (Ryan Bruce) is out working breaking in a horse as his father George (Kevin Costner) watches on. Back in the homestead, his mother Margaret (Diane Lane) is making breakfast while his wife Lorna (Kayli Carter) is trying to corral their new baby. As James takes out the horse for a ride, everyone is working together, that is until the horse comes back without its rider. Three years later, Lorna is re-marring Donnie Weboy (Will Brittain), and she and her little one Jimmy (Bram Hornung/ Otto Hornung) go to move in with him. Much to the consternation of Margret and George, that is only elevated when one day Lorna and Donnie skip town without telling and take Jimmy along with them.

To add to this, the film knows how to use uncertainty to create tension. When we finally get to Gladstone and get to meet the Weboy family though Bill (Jeffrey Donovan) everything immediately becomes unsettling. We get to meet the matriarch Blanche (Lesley Manville), and that uneasy feeling is only amplified. However, you can’t tell if these people are actually arseholes or if there is actually something menacing at play here. The film holds those cards close to its chest for longer than you feel comfortable it doing. All of this plays into the tension this film is creating and masterfully revealing throughout its runtime.

This is a film that uses everything it can to its advantage. At first, you think everyone has pretty clear motivations for their actions, but as the film goes on and you explore more of the characters and their past you see that it is much more complicated. The period the film is set also helps this, and respect to the set dressers and location scouts for bringing the world of 1963 Montana and North Dakota. These locations allow, in sort of a reverse God’s Own Country kind of way making a bleak and uninviting world, but still holding some majesty. Everything combines together to give the narrative all the strength it needs.

In the end, do we recommend Let Him Go? Absolutely. It was a masterclass in tension from start to finish, it created believable relationships that were a cornerstone for the film, and it found ways to suck you into the narrative even when you want to flee. If you liked Let Him Go, we would also recommend to you Logan.       

By Brian MacNamara: You can follow Brian on Twitter Here, when he’s not chatting about Movies and TV, he’ll be talking about International Relations, or the Solar System.

Have you watched Let Him Go?, let us know what you thought in the comments below, feel free to share this review on any of the social medias, and you can follow us Here. Check out all our past reviews and articles Here, and have a happy day. 


Credits – All images were created by the cast, crew, and production companies of Let Him Go
Directed by – Thomas Bezucha
Screenplay by – Thomas Bezucha
Based on – Let Him Go by Larry Watson
Music by – Michael Giacchino
Cinematography by – Guy Godfree
Edited by – Jeffrey Ford & Meg Reticker
Production/Distribution Companies – Mazur Kaplan Company, Focus Features & Universal Pictures
Starring – Diane Lane, Kevin Costner, Kayli Carter, Ryan Bruce, Bram Hornung, Otto Hornung, Finn Lee-Epp, Booboo Stewart, Lesley Manville, Jeffrey Donovan, Will Brittain, Adam Stafford, Connor Mackay, Bradley Stryker & Greg Lawson
Rating – Australia: M; Canada: 14A; Germany: na; New Zealand: na; United Kingdom: na; United States: R