Hell or High Water (2016)
★★★★ — Hell or High Water (2016)
Hell or High Water arrived in the summer of 2016 with a modest $12 million budget and went on to earn four Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, which was a remarkable return for a mid-budget original Western from a Scottish director. David Mackenzie had spent most of his career making smaller British and European films (Starred Up in 2013 being his breakthrough) before crossing over to shoot this one largely on location in New Mexico, standing in for drought-stricken West Texas. The script, by Sicario writer Taylor Sheridan, was part of what critics labelled his "Frontier Trilogy," a loose set of screenplays examining modern life in the American West, and it caught the cultural mood of a post-2008 America still nursing its wounds from the financial crisis and rural economic collapse.
A modern Western. No thrills, no fuss, just a damn good film. A modern Western that doesn’t need to shout to be heard. Chris Pine and Ben Foster are fantastic as the desperate brothers, and Jeff Bridges is just effortlessly brilliant. The story's tight and rooted in reality, with just the right amount of grit. It’s about poverty, banks, justice, and family, all told with a slow-burn intensity. The cinematography captures that dusty Texan bleakness perfectly, and the soundtrack complements every frame without overdoing it. Understated but powerful. One of the best crime dramas of the last decade.
Rating: ★★★★ | Year: 2016 | Watched: 2025-04-15
Where to watch (UK)
Stream: Studiocanal Presents Amazon Channel
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Related on Movies With Macca
More with Jeff Bridges: The Last Picture Show (1971) · Surf's Up (2007) · True Grit (2010) · Crazy Heart (2009)
More from the 2010s: Wonder (2017) · Beautiful Boy (2018) · The Witch (2015) · What We Do in the Shadows (2014)
More western: The Ox-Bow Incident (1943) · Rio Bravo (1959) · Ride Lonesome (1959) · The Great Train Robbery (1903)
More crime: A Better Tomorrow (1986) · Angst (1983) · Stolen Face (1952) · Cairo Station (1958)
