The American Western genre has become, for better or worse, synonymous with the narrative of American history: the rolling hills and treacherous mountains, shootouts and standoffs, the spirit of Westward expansion, and of course, the all-American principles of individualism, justice, and heroism. However, like anything that provides a stylized idealization of events that concerned the real endangerment and loss of human life, that’s also made it incredibly divisive.
Maybe classic John Ford’s aren’t your thing, so we’ve compiled a list of alternative Western films that challenge our notions of the American narrative. If you're looking for some revisionist Western films to expand your Western film collection at your library, consider these titles.
Deadman (1995), Dir. Jim Jarmusch
Described by Jarmusch as a “psychedelic western,” and praised in its own time for its accurate and respectful depiction of Indigenous culture, this relatively low-budget, monochrome film concerns the journey of a timid accountant as he goes on the lam in the wilderness after accidentally murdering a man in a small frontier town.
Deadman boasts an experimental soundtrack by Neil Young, surreal cinematography, and hilariously pastiche takes on Western tropes as the audience follows our protagonist’s gradual acceptance of the inevitability of his own death.
Deadman is an enchanting, cathartic experience that sees the desperate transformation of a domesticated city man into a primal being connected with the cycles of life and death.
One-Eyed Jacks (1961), Dir Marlon Brando
One-Eyed Jacks was Brando’s directorial debut (a short-lived journey; he never directed another film). Brando plays an outlaw that escapes from a Mexican prison with one goal in mind: vengeance against the former friend and colleague that crossed him and led him to imprisonment. The cause for contention? The former friend has transformed themselves and become the beloved Sheriff of Monterey, California, where he has a wife and stepdaughter.
The late Mexican actress Pina Pellicer plays our leading lady in what is a remarkably pared down and naturalistic performance for the genre. While not the most groundbreaking or original narrative, what makes this film strong is its examination of moral ambiguity, self-redemption, and the emotional complexity of its characters.
Read our review of One-Eyed Jacks
Ravenous (1999), Dir Antonia Bird
In Ravenous, Guy Pearce plays a deserter-turned-hero-turned-exiled captain in the Sierra Nevada, where desperation and mythic whisper turns men to cannibals, and cannibals to men.
Inspired by the real tragedy of the Donner Party of the 1840s, as well as Indigenous wendigo lore, this film combines elements of drama, dark humor, and horror in a fascinating showdown between the most brutally primal parts of humanity, and the social structures and moral codes that it built itself upon.
Read our review of Ravenous
Meek’s Cutoff (2010), Dir. Kelly Reichardt
No list of alternative or revisionist westerns can possibly be complete without a mention of Kelly Reichardt’s critically acclaimed Meek’s Cutoff, and rightfully so. It’s undeniably divisive: dull and slow to some, groundbreaking and thought-provoking to others.
This film tells the story of a group of settler families who find themselves stranded in the Oregon desert, unsure of how to proceed, with food and supplies running low. The stunning vast expanse of Oregon's country inspires not freedom or opportunity; but anxiety, uncertainty, and fear.
Female perspectives take center stage. And the blazing guns and smoke of traditional Westerns are traded in for a slow burn invitation into the unglamorous emotional reality of White settlers desperately seeking their destiny in an unknown land.
Read our review of Meek's Cutoff
No Country for Old Men (2007), Dir Joel and Ethan Coen
Dubbed a Neo-Western, this Coen brothers' classic is also an unavoidable mention on the topic. A relatively contemporary-set piece, this film concerns three characters connected by a massive sum of missing money: the man who stole it, the hitman tasked with finding him, and the investigating sheriff.
In other words, it’s a standoff between the three proverbial muses of the Western genre: the outlaw, the law, and the everyman caught between them.
This work boasts some career-best performances from Javier Bardem, Josh Brolin, and Tommy Lee Jones, among others, stunning cinematography, and a heart-wrenching script—all the while challenging the Western ideological principles of justice, familial honor, and destiny.
Read our review of No Country for Old Men
Cat Ballou (1965), Dir Elliot Silverstein
Unlike the previously mentioned films, which concern in earnest the deepest topics of human complexity, Cat Ballou is a fun, flamboyant pastiche of the Western genre starring Jane Fonda and Lee Marvin.
In one of a group of female-led Westerns, Fonda plays the eponymous Cat Ballou, whose journey from bright-eyed schoolteacher to vengeful outlaw is punctuated by musical numbers, betrayal, drunks, crack shots, washed up outlaws, declarations of love, comedic futility, and camp.
It holds up surprisingly well for a contemporary audience and is proof of what’s possible when a Western doesn’t take itself too seriously.