THE LAST SON (2021) 

"An outlaw attempts to end his evil family line."

OUR [TO THE POINT] REVIEW:

The Last Son is directed by Tim Sutton (Donnybrook, Dark Night); Sutton is an up and coming director who has a lot of promise behind him; his Dark Night left me cold. The Last Son is shot well and has a plot I found genuinely fascinating, however, although the story is interesting the flaws prevented it from truly ascending from mediocre status to something truly special. 

I'll begin with what I enjoyed about the film and what ultimately makes it more frustrating in the end. I found the storyline of a man in the old west on a conquest to kill his bloodline before one of them possibly kills him, to be both unique and interesting. Accompanied by a score by Phillip Mossman that is particularly effective. The score really adds to the darkness and depravity that we are witnessing throughout the film. The look matches the tone and thematics of the storyline thanks to the effective cinematography by David Gallego. 

Sam Worthington is the best that I’ve seen him in years, he's playing the role understated and mysterious. The look on his face and the way he carries himself speaks louder than words could. The whole cast is well rounded and delivers great performances in their respective roles. I love seeing Colson Baker (aka Machine Gun Kelly) in this, not because his acting is anything outstanding, he's fine, but just because it's different, it's always good to see artists branching out.

With all that being said all those things I enjoyed about this movie is what also leads to what made it somewhat frustrating at the same time. The characters are all there, but we just needed a little more depth from them. Most of the time we are handed a minor detail about their background as if that's supposed to be enough and make you comprehend exactly who the character is and why they have the motivations that they do. There are also a few moments throughout that felt as though we were being cut off from seeing a resolution to a particular scene, excluding possibly something that could indicate why that scene was important to show. Ultimately these scene extensions could have given more depth to the characters and the events unraveling around them. 

The western is one of my all time favorite genres of film. So while that makes me a tad biased, The Last Son is executed well enough. For what Sutton is trying to accomplish, even with its lack of dimension, it certainly has me eyeing what this director will be up to next.

CONCLUSIVE VERDICT: