Welcome to no man’s land. -Synopsis
In the late 1800s, infamous criminal leader, Frank Griffin (Jeff Daniels), and his outlaws are on a mission to get revenge on Roy Goode (Jack O’Connell), the former “brother” who betrayed their gang. On the run, Roy seeks refuge near the mining town of La Belle, N.M. He gets a job and a place to stay w/ Alice Fletcher (Michelle Dockery), a widow/single mom/outcast. The local sheriff, Bill McNue (Scoot McNairy), is keeping a secret, BUT still trying to do his job. Bill’s deputy, Whitey Winn (Thomas Brodie Sangster), is eager to fight, yet untested. Mary Agnes McNue (Merritt Wever) helps Bill care of his 2 young kids; she wears pants and handles a gun well (like her brother). When word of Griffin’s imminent arrival, the residents of La Belle (mostly women) band together to defend themselves.
Godless (7 eps) was released on Netflix in NOV 2017. Scott Frank (writer/director) was nominated for the 2018 Emmy in Outstanding Writing for a Limited Series, Movie or Special. Frank is known for Logan (2017), Out of Sight (1998) and The Lookout (2007). Daniels (a veteran of film/TV/stage) won the Emmy that year for Outstanding Supporting Actor; Wever (mainly a theater actress; seen in Marriage Story in 2019) won Outstanding Supporting Actress. La Belle is an actual town that was located in Taos Co. around the turn of the 20th C. The character of John Randall (Rob Morgan) of the 10th Cavalry Union Army and the legend of the Buffalo Soldiers is true. Blackdom was located in SE New Mexico (close to Roswell), NOT in the North of the state (as other towns mentioned on the show).
This show both subverts, and builds upon, the common tropes of the Western genre. Though the setting here is the Old (& V wild) West, the issues explored are universal: grief, generational trauma, desire for redemption, search for knowledge, etc. The women have no choice; they MUST be self-sufficient, work w/ own hands/bodies, and develop mental toughness. Masculinity is depicted in nuanced ways (which pleasantly surprised me); there are no swaggering John Wayne-type heroes. Some of the work was done by casting male actors of slim builds/average height; also, the dialogue and (subtle) acting is key. The men in this show are able to cry, fall in love, and (sometimes) verbalize what is affecting them. The costumes, production design, cinematography, and music are ALL superb.
[1] Godless is easily one of my favorite westerns I’ve seen in a long time. I’m actually blown away by how much I liked it. I had high expectations because of all the great ratings and reviews and it not only met those expectations but surpassed them in every way!
[2] Jack O’Connell and Jeff Daniels lead an absolutely incredible cast who are all at the top of their game here!
[3] The writing of this show is what surprised me the most, how the scenes of each character from their past to the present are presented in such a subtle yet moving way. […]
The direction of Scott Frank is really among the best when it comes to how he sets up the scenes, the camera work, and how he spent time with these characters that went further than western to date. I wish there were more Westerns made this way…
-Excerpts from IMDb reviews