Slow West

2015, UK/New Zealand, directed by John Maclean

An absorbing take on the Western, filmed (gorgeously) in New Zealand. John Maclean has clearly absorbed the genre thoroughly and does a good deal of deconstruction/reconstruction while hewing close to a simple quest template. Not all of his decisions work -- some of the absurd interludes are simply that, but other anecdotes help to build the lightly-sketched characters and the set-piece finale is very well handled, expertly constructed and edited. There are also a few moments of humour that almost all hit the mark squarely.