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Bone Tomahawk
2015 133 min United States of America, United Kingdom 18+
★7.3
Western, Horror, Drama
Director: S. Craig Zahler
Trailers
Description
During a shootout in a saloon, Sheriff Hunt injures a suspicious stranger. The doctor's assistant, wife of the local foreman, tends to him in prison. That night, the town is attacked and they both disappear—only the arrow of a cannibal tribe is found. Hunt and a few of his men go in search of the prisoner and the foreman's wife.
Budget:
$1.8M
Worldwide:
$475,846
Starring
Kurt Russell
Actor
Patrick Wilson
Actor
Matthew Fox
Actor
Awards
Saturn Awards 2016
— Best Independent Film
Key opinion
Bone Tomahawk is a divisive hybrid that fuses a slow-burn, character-driven Western with an ultra-violent horror climax. While many critics praise its gritty realism and strong ensemble performances, others find the pacing overly sluggish and the tonal shift between its talky first half and gruesome final act jarring.
| Acting | The ensemble cast, particularly Richard Jenkins and Kurt Russell, delivers grounded, compelling performances that anchor the character-focused narrative. | |
| Emotion | The graphic violence in the final act is visceral and shocking, serving as a stark, effective contrast to the film's deliberate, quiet pacing. | |
| Screenplay | S. Craig Zahler’s screenplay effectively balances dark, witty dialogue with a grim, realistic atmosphere reminiscent of classic Westerns. | |
| Pacing | The film’s two-hour-plus runtime and slow-burn approach reward viewers who enjoy patient world-building, while leaving others feeling the experience is tedious and lacking in momentum. | |
| Originality | The shift from a realistic, dialogue-heavy road movie to a sudden, extreme horror finale creates a jarring experience that some perceive as a bold genre-blend and others as a tonal mismatch. |