Technically, spoilers follow, but they shouldn't really matter (because the film is bad)

A cartoon depiction of misogyny that delights in seeing women whipped, beaten, raped and maimed under the pretence that this will make the pseudo-feminist uplift in its closing moments more genuine. Brimstone aspires to be some kind of serious, important epic, and yet without any kind of substance it falls back on empty pretensions: heavy-handed, nonsensical and often laughable religious symbolism, including "chapters" named after books of the bible; meaninglessly shocking violence (a man is disembowelled and has his entrails wrapped around his neck for no discernible reason); an overwrought orchestral score; and sweeping Western landscapes actually filmed in Europe (a highlight, admittedly, but perhaps the only…

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Rated R - 2 Hours 28 Minutes
Starring: Guy Pearce, Dakota Fanning, Emilia Jones, Carice van Houten, Kit Harington
Directed by: Martin Koolhoven

Summary: A man from Liz's past arrives as the new reverend causing her to fear for hers and her family's lives!
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Amazing how fast time flies when you're watching a riveting film you just can't seem to take your eyes off for even one second! Come to think of it my eyes are awfully dry, didn't blink much throughout as I was afraid I'd miss something! Truth be known I had NO idea whatsoever that this film was nearly 2 1/2 hours long! It certainly didn't feel like it! It wasn't until I starting writing…

Reverent and ridiculous in equal measure, Martin Koolhoven’s “Brimstone” is a wild pseudo-Western that trembles beneath the biblical weight of its comically grim story. Told with a steady tone that marries the divine retribution of the Old Testament with the heightened slickness of a graphic novel, this gruesome carnival of debasement may be set in the lawless frontiers of 19th century America, but it might be more accurately located somewhere between Sodom and Gomorrah and “Sin City.” It’s the kind of movie in which an actor from “Game of Thrones” murders someone who’s taking a shit in an outhouse — the kind of movie in which a dying man, choking on a noose made out of his own intestines, still…

Much like the retro resurgence we’ve been experiencing over the last few years, there seems to be an ongoing effort to revive the Western genre, particularly by coupling it with Horror (Bone Tomahawk) or at least with Horror directors (Ti West’s In a Valley of Violence). It’s a trend that I’ve found enjoyable so far, leading to my excitement for the release of Brimstone despite having absolutely no clue what it was really about from the trailer. The presence of the incredibly talented Guy Pearce also got me hooked, and as it turns out, his stock in the film is perhaps the primary reason that it got made. Koolhoven had been struggling to build up the financing over the last…

"Only you can save me."

The voice of women is often silenced or subdued in this version of the old American west, as mute midwife Liz (Dakota Fanning) is pursued by a preacher (Guy Pearce) who may well have felt the flames of hell.
A grim tale told broken down in to four chapters, mixing past and present, which gives the film wide scope as it explores the earlier lives of these characters and their relationship to each other, yet this does allow the sense of urgency built up at the beginning to be lost a little as Liz bravely attempts to escape her past. Not shying away from abuse and visceral violence, here women struggle against men who see…

Although its brutal depiction of the period in which it is set undoubtedly won’t sit well with more sensitive viewers - particularly as regards the period’s attitude towards women and children (although to be fair to director Martin Koolhoven, this is never glamorised and ALWAYS presented as ugly male weakness) - there is a pretty good story here, and well-told, beautifully-shot and enhanced by a lush score from Tom Holkenborg (Junkie XL). It also boasts solid turns from Dakota Fanning, Emilia Jones, with dependable supporting performances from its GOT personnel (namely, Kit Harington and Carice Van Houten) - and, of course, Guy Pearce playing an utterly despicable piece of shit: a character who falls somewhere between Robert Mitchum’s NIGHT OF…