disappointment media
  • Home
  • Reviews
  • Interviews
  • The Snake Hole
  • About

SURROUNDED -- A Beautiful Looking Western With a Female Lens

6/16/2023

1 Comment

 
Review by Dan Skip Allen
Picture
I've been a fan of Westerns since I was a little kid. Films like High Noon, Unforgiven, and Once Upon a Time in the West showed me what great filmmaking, acting, and writing can do for this genre that has had better days. Recently, some newer voices have put their stamp on the Western genre. None have made a film like Surrounded, though. It is one of the best Westerns I've seen that uses the female gaze as a plot device. 

Mo Washington (Letitia Wright) is a young woman who disguised herself as a man and joined the Union to fight in the Civil War. She learned a lot while fighting for her life and the country that didn't care about her, gaining some gunfighter skills in the process. Five years later, she got her claim to a parcel of land in Colorado and plans to go there via Brushwood Gulch, New Mexico. She buys a ticket for a seat on a stagecoach before a ruthless killer, Tommy Walsh (Jamie Bell), and his crew hijack the coach. She is again in a fight for survival from all sides.

The director Anthony Mandler uses a story by Andrew Papgana and Justin Thomas, who wrote the screenplay. He creates a battle of wills between the Wright and Bell characters for most of the film, sending them into a game of cat-and-mouse. Who can outdo the other? It's a classic Western trope used to perfection in this movie. This confrontation between these two is why this film is worth seeing.

One of the other reasons why this movie is so good is how it's filmed and lit. Mandler, his director of photography Max Goldman, uses natural light to film this movie. The sunlight is used fifty percent of the time, and it's glorious. Yes, there is the occasional lens flare, but the terrain looks gorgeous. The mountains, streams, hills, trees, and everything in between are brought to vivid life. I love how good this movie looks.
Picture
Besides Wright and Bell, there is a nice supporting cast that compliments the two leads. Brett Gelman, Jeffrey Donovan, and Michael K. Williams (in his last role before he died in 2022) all give good performances. They add an element to the story that keeps it interesting. This is a spotlight for Wright and Bell, though. They both bring their A-game that accentuates their abilities as actors.

Mandler, the writers, and especially Wright use this story and role to show young girls that there are roles out there that show Black women in a dominating and powerful role. She is a woman with a past, but has a future. She is determined to make it in a world that hates her. As revenge films or female gaze movies go, this one does a great job of showing a strong woman with good skills and puts them to work well. 

MGM has been on a winning streak lately, with several films that have done well with critics and fans. In a packed summer full of blockbusters, Surrounded will have a hard time finding an audience. If I had my way, everybody would see this film. It's a movie that deserves everyone to see, not just women and girls. Fans of revenge films and Westerns will surely love this movie.

Surrounded hits VOD on June 20.

​Rating: 4/5
1 Comment
Konnie Semonski
6/16/2023 04:40:17 pm

Thanks Skip. Looks good.

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Archives

    May 2025
    April 2025
    March 2025
    February 2025
    January 2025
    December 2024
    November 2024
    October 2024
    July 2024
    June 2024
    May 2024
    April 2024
    March 2024
    February 2024
    January 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019

    Authors

    All
    Adam Donato
    Alan French
    Allison Brown
    Borja Izuzquiz
    Camden Ferrell
    Cole Groth
    Daniel Lima
    Dan Skip Allen
    Erin M. Brady
    Jonathan Berk
    Joseph Fayed
    Josh Batchelder
    Paris Jade
    Rafael Motamayor
    Sarah Williams
    Sean Boelman
    Tatiana Miranda

disappointment media

Dedicated to unique and diverse perspectives on cinema!
  • Home
  • Reviews
  • Interviews
  • The Snake Hole
  • About