Slow West, one of this year's best western flicks, tells the story of a 16-year-old named Jay (Kodi Smit-McPhee), who travels from Scotland to Colorado to seek his long lost love, Rose, who - along with her father - are wanted for murder. Jay teams up with an enigmatic bounty hunter named Silas (Michael Fassbender) to find her, as the duo compete with a gang of ruthless killers who are also attempting to track down Rose. All this ends with a huge shootout sequence at Rose's house, in which the ruthless gang - led by actor Ben Mendelsohn - are killed, one by one. It's then that an unexpected plot development occurs: Jay enters the house to reunite with Rose, only for her to casually gun him down, unaware of who he is. She later realises, but it's too late: Jay dies. Then comes the twist: Slow West seemed to present itself as a movie in which Jay would survive, reunite with Rose, and Silas would die, but this is all turned on its head. In the end, we're shown that Silas and Rose wind up together. Who'd have guessed that?
Sam Hill is an ardent cinephile and has been writing about film professionally since 2008. He harbours a particular fondness for western and sci-fi movies.
