Tim Blake Nelson delivers a career best performance in Old Henry, a character driven western of compelling style, engaging storytelling, and ingeniously crafted filmmaking by writer and director Potsy Ponciroli.

From Peter Lore to Steve Buscemi, cinema history has been graced with many unique faces. Tim Blake Nelson has as unique a face as they come, a tool in his vast repertoire that he uses to commanding effect whether in a comedy (The Ballad of Buster Scruggs) or a drama (Just Mercy.)

In Old Henry, an intimate western set in 1906 that is written and directed by Potsy Ponciroli (Super Zeroes), Nelson transforms himself again to play the role of Henry, a farmer whose face presents a weariness, grit, and beady-eyed suspicion of a world not to be trusted.

Widowed and raising his son Wyatt (Gavin Lewis), Henry toils on his isolated farm located on Oklahoma Territory. That is until the discovery of an outlaw shot, left for dead, and carrying a satchel of money, brings with him all matter of hell in the form of brutal bank robber Ketchum (Stephen Dorff) and his posse, leading to a showdown on the prairie.

With Old Henry, Ponciroli has created a western of high stakes and intense emotion, orchestrating a stand off between a righteous yet complicated man trying to protect his son, and a group of dangerous criminals whose greed knows no bounds. Filmed in Tennessee, the film features beautiful photography by John Matysiak (I’m Not Ashamed), as well as a mourn-filled score by Jordan Lehing (The Dead Center) who captures the danger, dread, and sadness of this western tale.

A small cast are all terrific, with special mention to the ever-dependent Stephen Dorff who excels as a chiselled jawed, smooth talking, and brutally violent outlaw who is without remorse.

Old Henry, though, belongs to Tim Blake Nelson’s fantastic performance of crusty grit and salt of the earth demeanour, a man of experience who, under the surface, bubbles violent tendencies true in aim and brutal in delivery. Throughout the films 99-minute runtime we witness a transformation in Henry both subtle and powerful, as the layers strip away to reveal his true self in all of his pistol firing glory.

Ponciroli’s blend of western mythos with character driven drama and action thrills is masterful in execution, with Old Henry a movie that reminds of the alluring power of the American western and Tim Blake Nelson’s standing as one of the best character actors working today.