Slow West (2015)
85%RT Audience Score: 74%
Awards & Nominations: 7 wins & 20 nominations
Slow West serves as an impressive calling card for first-time writer-director John M. Maclean — and offers an inventive treat for fans of the Western
Slow West is like a cowboy who’s in no rush to get to the rodeo. It takes its time, but boy is it worth the wait. The film is a fresh take on the classic western genre, with a weirdly lyrical portrait of frontier life that balances on the knife edge between western and musical. The performances are indelible, with Michael Fassbender leading the charge. And let’s not forget the gorgeous, nihilistic, and brutally sad shootout that crescendos into a bravura finale. It’s a work of rare purity, directness, and concision that will leave you feeling like you just rode off into the sunset.
Production Company(ies)
Dreamworks Pictures, Paramount Pictures, Amblin Entertainment,
Distributor
A24
Release Type
Filming Location(s)
Twizel, Canterbury, New Zealand
MPAA / Certificate
Rated R for violence and brief language
Year of Release
2015
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Dolby Digital
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Aspect ratio:1.66 : 1
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Runtime:1h 31m
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Language(s):English, French
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): May 15, 2015 Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Jul 7, 2015
Genre(s)
Western
Keyword(s)
Slow West, Michael Fassbender, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Ben Mendelsohn, Caren Pistorius, Rory McCann, Western, John M Maclean, Rachel Gardner, Iain Canning, Emile Sherman, Conor McCaughan, written by John Maclean, box office, budget, reviewed by David Sims, Mark Kermode, Geoffrey Macnab, David Sexton, Donald Clarke, Wendy Ide, Brian Eggert, Nick Levine, Leigh Paatsch, Debbie Lynn Elias, Nathanael Hood, MPAA rating R, A24, Colorado, bounty hunter, bodyguard, guide, 1800s, violence, brief language, English, limited release, streaming, gross USA, distributor
Worldwide gross: $1,295,574
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $1,617,224
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,473
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 176,360
US/Canada gross: $229,094
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $285,971
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,472
US/Canada opening weekend: $67,003
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $83,638
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,010
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): $2,000,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $2,496,537
Production budget ranking: 2,008
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $1,344,385
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): -$2,223,698
ROI to date (est.): -58%
ROI ranking: 1,732
Kodi Smit-McPhee – Jay Cavendish
Ben Mendelsohn – Payne
Caren Pistorius – Rose Ross
Rory McCann – John Ross
Andrew Robertt – Werner
Rachel Gardner – Producer
Iain Canning – Producer
Emile Sherman – Producer
Conor McCaughan – Producer
John Maclean – Writer/Director
Director(s)
John Maclean
Writer(s)
John Maclean
Producer(s)
Rachel Gardner, Iain Canning, Emile Sherman, Conor McCaughan
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
7 wins & 20 nominations
Academy Awards
All Critics (136) | Top Critics (41) | Fresh (125) | Rotten (11)
Slow West crescendos into a bravura shootout between all the involved parties, and it’s as gorgeous, nihilistic, and brutally sad as the rest of the film.
October 14, 2015
David Sims
The Atlantic
TOP CRITIC
With its weirdly lyrical portrait of frontier life, this blackly comic oddity balances on the generic knife edge between the western and the musical.
June 28, 2015 | Rating: 4/5
Mark Kermode
Observer (UK)
TOP CRITIC
As the title suggests, Maclean is in no hurry. Even at the most climactic moments, he always looks for an offbeat perspective.
June 26, 2015 | Rating: 4/5
Geoffrey Macnab
Independent (UK)
TOP CRITIC
It’s a work of rare purity, directness and concision – a pity that it’s lumbered with that slightly deceptive, off-putting title. Slow it’s not.
June 26, 2015 | Rating: 4/5
David Sexton
London Evening Standard
TOP CRITIC
Slow West is not much like any other western. It’s not a great deal like any other film.
June 26, 2015 | Rating: 4/5
Donald Clarke
Irish Times
TOP CRITIC
The western may be about as relevant to American society as the ability to lasso a rampaging steer, but the genre refuses to die. Instead it evolves, taking on new meanings with each new incarnation.
June 25, 2015 | Rating: 4/5
Wendy Ide
Times (UK)
TOP CRITIC
Maclean isn’t interested in realizing a Fordian romanticism of the American West; rather, he considers his characters, like Anthony Mann did, as internally conflicted emotional beings who are reflected by their surrounding landscape.
June 21, 2022 | Rating: 4/4
Brian Eggert
Deep Focus Review
Michael Fassbender stars in a fresh and distinctive take on the classic western.
June 4, 2021 | Rating: 4/5
Nick Levine
NME
A casual weirdness. A wisened grasp of when to embrace or reject a cliche. A quartet of ripping performances. These are the calling cards of this odd, funny and compelling western.
July 30, 2020 | Rating: 3.5/5
Leigh Paatsch
Herald Sun (Australia)
A meticulously crafted story with indelible performances from the likes of Kodi Smit-McPhee, Ben Mendelsohn and Caren Pistorius…one is transported back in time, immersed in cinematic beauty and scope, and loving every second of it.
December 8, 2019
Debbie Lynn Elias
Behind The Lens
It’s so obsessed with being a well-constructed, socially conscious film that it forgets to be a good one.
December 28, 2018 | Rating: 6/10
Nathanael Hood
Screen Comment
It shows the rewards of taking the road less traveled, relishing the telling of the tale as much as the tale itself.
November 15, 2018
Stephen Saito
Moveable Fest…
Plot
Slow West’ follows a 16-year-old boy on a journey across 19th Century frontier America in search of the woman he loves, while accompanied by mysterious traveler Silas.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
Michael Fassbender gives an impressive performance in Slow West.
John-Maclean.jpg
