Slow West continues the strong streak of modern westerns with its visually breathtaking, atmospherically rich & solidly performed story of love & survival across the Wild West.

It wasn't that long ago when westerns simply were no longer made for the big screen. A supposed product of a bygone era, the genre had its unofficial celluloid goodbye in Clint Eastwood's moody lament Unforgiven in 1992. It took until 2007 and Andrew Dominick's exceptional The Assassination of Jesse James to bring the western back to glory (albeit more critical than box-office).

Slow West is definitely a western in the vein of The Assassination... rather than, say, Rio Bravo. Impressively directed and written by John Macklean (his debut), Slow West tells the story of young Jay (Kodi Smit-McPhee) who travels from Scotland to America in search of his love Rose (Caren Pistorious). During his travels he comes across outlaw Silas (Michael Fassbender) who agrees to accompany & protect Jay for his own sinister reasons.

Both Smit-McPhee and Fassbender (who also produces) are great in their roles, Smit-McPhee in particular bringing the right amount of lovelorn naivety to Jay without coming across as a pitiful creature. Fassbender in turn provides a masculine energy as a grizzled gunslinger of dubious intent, the Irish actor fitting the western term "tall drake of water" to a T.

When Silas comes across an unscarred Jay and says "It's a miracle your still alive!", it's a statement that grows in power as the Wild West lives up to its name as one violent scenario after another greets Jay, who is haunted by the violent acts done either by his hand or in his presence. One scene that results in the death of immigrant parents who turn to desperate measures to feed their children is simply heartbreaking.

Although set in the American western frontier, the majority of Slow West was shot in New Zealand, with the beautiful picturesque landscapes that the country is now known for (mainly thanks to the Lord of the Rings series) not only a highlight but otherworldly in look and texture.

Directed by a British filmmaker, starring an international cast, and funded by British based Film4 Productions, Slow West proves not only to be a great western, but that the future of the genre may just be saved by those outside of Hollywood. Time will tell.