Slow West

Running time: 84 mins

Winner of the World Cinema Jury Prize at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival, a modern vision of the Old West, starring Kodi Smit-McPhee (Let Me In, ParaNorman) and Michael Fassbender (X-Men: Days of Future Past, Shame). Sixteen-year-old Jay (Smit-McPhee) finds out just how harsh the American West can be, when he arrives from Scotland to search for his former lover. However, Jay doesn't know she has a price on her head. Partnering with the mysterious Silas (Fassbender), Jay must face the realities of the frontier while trying to stay ahead of a bloodthirsty posse and a bounty hunter. Scottish director John Maclean's vision offers a fresh, poetic take on the Old West. Anchored by Smit-McPhee and Fassbender's subtle, and sometimes humorous, performances, Slow West is as arresting as it is elegant. - Michael Rabehl