Films in the Neowestern Genre occupy two of the top four places on my list of favorite movies. They are well crafted, emotional thrillers who show different aspects of pain and the human experience. There are few movies that fit into this category, and those that do are not the cash cows that studious look for, as they do not have the mass appeal that recognizable movies like the recent "Jurassic World" movies and the annual "Star Wars" movies. So, the ones that get greenlit are given small and restrictive budgets, but they make the absolute most out of them. The three Neowesterns I will talk about are all cinematic gold that I highly recommend watching, (in no particular order).

1. "Logan"

The most recognizable of the three, "Logan" follows an aging Hugh Jackman as he battles being typecast. But more importantly, it follows an old and broken Wolverine, who has gone from saving the world to barely being able to save himself. No matter what happens in the movie, it was going to be a surefire profit machine, as it features Hugh Jackman's farewell performance as Wolverine, the mantle he had taken up over a decade and a half ago, which has become synonymous with his name at this point.

Fox studios, who own the rights to the X-Men characters, could have played it safe and hired a director and writer who focus on mass appeal movies, but instead, went out on a limb. They made a bold statement, with a "comic book movie" that at most points, it seems to be anything but. Logan went far and above what was required of it and in the process, nearly redefined the modern western genre. In it, we see Logan, the wolverine, an old broken man, far from the ferocity and spunk we normally see from him. He is working as a limo driver just to make ends meet. He is struggling to keep his last remaining true friend, professor Xavier, alive and functioning. Throughout the movie we see a hopeless Logan find meaning once again and make one final push to keep his daughter safe. But there are no happy endings here.

This trailer is one of my favorite trailers I've seen, and features "Way Down We Go" by Kaleo, which is a long I love.

2. "Hell or High Water"

"Hell or High Water" is a nearly impeccable masterpiece. The characters and themes are all perfectly fleshed out without being overstated. The story is very reminiscent of classic westerns, Robbing banks on the run, etc, but modernized. The Howard brothers, played by Chris Pine and Ben Foster, are on a mission for vengeance, but not for blood. They are Robbing banks that robbed them whilst their mother was dying.

We also follow Texas Rangers Marcus Hamilton (Jeff Bridges) and his partner Alberto Parker (Gil Birmingham) as try to track the brothers down. Many of the themes, like whether a person in a wolf or a sheepdog, is exemplified throughout the movie. But like Logan, the ending is one of hope, but not of happiness.

3. "Wind River"

"Wind River" is an intriguing true story about a murder investigation in the Wind River reserve in Wyoming. The movie follows Cory Lambert, played by Jeremy Renner, who is an animal tracker that gets involved in the investigation, as the police force is severely understaffed and unprepared for such an investigation. Cory is very much a frontiersman similar to that of the older westerns, but with a touch of modern cynicism to him. The story is narratively straightforward, with few sidetracks for other storylines, keeping the focus solely on Cory and the investigation. Gil Birmingham is in this movie as well, playing the victim's father.

The major theme shared by the three movies is being downtrodden by those above you. Logan and Xavier have to live relatively secluded lives because there are corporations trying to hunt them down. Hatred of the banks runs throughout "Hell or High Water". Some farmers talking about how their kids don't want to take over their farm (also a part of Logan, ironically) and townspeople saying that they were happy the brothers were robbing the banks, as the banks had been robbing them and their families for decades, and throughout there is the general theme of distrust toward the banks by regular people. In "Wind River", there is always talk about how there is nothing to do in the desolate reserve and how that factors into drug use and ruins lives in the process. These themes of oppression and more fit perfectly into the neowestern theme.

The bottom line:

The box office numbers for "Hell or High Water" and "Wind River" were far from ideal, with each making under $50,000,000.00 at the box office. But they were both made for around $12,000,000.00 - so, they turned a nice profit. However, studios aren't quite looking to make these kinds of movies, as big-budget action movies have become the norm now, and it's a trend that is hard to fight, which is why smaller, more detailed oriented studios like A24 have grown so much in popularity.

I tried not to talk too much about the movies in detail, as I believe that knowing almost nothing about a movie going into it make the viewing experience much more enjoyable.