Adapted from the novel by Joe R. Lansdale (Bubba and the Cosmic Blood-Suckers), The Thicket is a bloody and deliberately paced western. Beginning as it means to go on, a young outlaw (Esme Creed-Miles) is abducted during a violent altercation with the formidable Cut Throat Bill (Juliette Lewis).
Her brother (Levon Hawke), desperate to secure her safe return, enlists the assistance of bounty hunter Reginald Jones (Peter Dinklage), whose cunning and astute intellect more than compensate for his diminutive size.
Director Elliott Lester (Aftermath) employs evocative winter cinematography and stark snowbound imagery that reinforce the thematic weight of isolation. It also effectively illustrates just how cheap life is to those who are morally bankrupt.
Lewis delivers a stand-out performance as Cut Throat Bill. Her brutality isn’t mindless. It’s underscored by the wounds inflicted by an oppressively misogynistic social order. By contrast, the ever-impressive Dinklage imbues the sardonic Jones with a slightly off-centre moral compass. When the film is in danger of becoming too bleak, his perfectly timed, dryly delivered quips lighten the mood.
The Thicket captivates through its portrayal of two adversaries intrinsically bound by shared trauma. Its exploration of power, suffering, and moral decay is accentuated by the desolation of the winter landscape. It’s a thought-provoking meditation on survival and integrity in a world teetering on the edge of collapse – something that we are all too familiar with today.
THE THICKET is out now on DVD and digital platforms.
