The Dead Don't Hurt

“A sinewy, sombre, handsomely crafted and beautifully shot western”★★★★ The Guardian

Viggo Mortensen (The Lord of the Rings, The Road) directs, writes, composes and stars in this character-driven Western, alongside Vicky Krieps (Phantom Thread, Bergman Island). Holger and Vivienne are newly arrived immigrants to the West, who collide and find themselves forging a romance, carving out a homestead. Despite Vivienne’s independence, a broken engagement catches up to her. As the Civil War rages, the tiny community has its own bloody reckoning that threatens the lovers’ peace.

The poignancy and power of Mortensen’s story is to paint the specificity and sensitivity of these characters, and place them in the real world of the West, where violence and confrontation are inevitable. Like Clint Eastwood’s Unforgiven, a film that builds on the Western genre, while also reckoning with its realities.