[Review] Let Him Go(2020) {7/10}

Written and Directed by Thomas Bezucha, the film stars Kevin Costner (George Blackledge), Diane Lane (Margaret Blackledge), Lesley Manville (Blanche Weboy) and Will Brittain (Donnie Weboy). The film is based on the 2013 novel of the same name by Larry Watson.

The plot follows a grieving couple George Blackledge (Kevin Costner) and Margaret Blackledge (Diane Lane) who are trying to rescue their young grandson. They set off from their Montana ranch to track down their daughter-in-law, Lorna (Kayli Carter) and her son in the desolate mountains of the Dakotas. There they face off with the vicious Weboy family, who have no qualms about using violence to get what they want.

The setting is the Great Plains: The land is beautiful, and it's a visual treat to see it in all its splendor. Although well acted, the characters lean into stereotypes, but the more you embrace the idea that this film is a noir, the more you're likely to be OK with that and even enjoy it. Lane and Costner are swell, but the film jolts to life the second we walk into Blanche’s dimly lit kitchen, occupied by even dimmer men. The villainous Manville acts like a rooster, clucking, crowing and, worst of all, pecking. A sickening scene in a motel won’t have you taking the kids to South Dakota anytime soon. Director Thomas Bezucha has a knack for tight-knit clans. He directed the 2005 Christmas film “The Family Stone,” which also involved an outsider (Sarah Jessica Parker) trying to infiltrate a hostile home. That hostility, however, did not involve bullets or axes only mean future in-laws. This is, by far, the director’s tensest and most brutal movie ever, and he’s a natural. Exorcising some inner demons, perhaps. That’s the kind of stuff that can stir up conversation over a cup of coffee, post movie. But its not as fun as, say, having the victorious good guy riding off into a glowing sunset. And you definitely shouldn’t come in expecting any of that here. Let Him Go has its gun blasts and bloodiness; it’s lonely sundowns and whisky swigs; and it has that ache you get in your gut when you care, but you can’t change the course of the bad things tumbleweeding your way. It’s a gripping thriller that confirms every doted on grandchild’s closely held suspicion: Grandma not only makes the world’s best pancakes but also will kill for you if needed.

Let Him Go is now available on Digital and VOD.