Slow West

Dave

Reminded me very much of a modern day Budd Boetticher type film - see shades of Seven Men From Now and the other succinct, tight westerns that he made. At time funny, jarring, trippy, funny. And also some outstanding cinematography displaying a beautifully desolate and hard western landscape. Very good.

J. O.

A rugged and sun-scorched oater that features an impressive and unique aesthetic, supported by likeable characters. First-timer Maclean balances a light and off-beat sense of humour with grit and aggression for a memorable (and tragic) tale of fate. Excellent effort all around.

Tigrão

weird little film. Not sure it's for better or worse, but it sure caught my attention. A bit short emotionally and with some silly moments, but nonetheless, something that feels a bit "new" in the modern western genre.

Zac Weber

John Maclean manipulates the western genre in a quirky but mostly underwhelming way. Imagine a lite version of Jim Jarmusch's Dead Man. Slow West features flashes of dark humor and dreamy cinematography, but the characters feel underdeveloped. The off-kilter storyline culminates with a bang that certainly shifts away from the rest of the film's slow-burning journey.

Wee Hunk

'Slow West' is a bad name for this movie. It's like reducing expectations. It's a small movie with some great performances. The only thing that bothered me was Fassbender's performance. His was a modern attitude towards life. He was too relaxed, and he didn't seem lonely, despite Smit-McPhee saying that he was. This was Fassbender as a movie star instead of an actor.

Jason

Underwhelming, poised, brazenly 1.66/1 shot low-cost indie western capsule rigged for distribution. Currently, accordingly, screening in yr own personal Nowheresville. It has one of the worst trailers I have seen in a long time, but I kinda liked it. We can excuse all the bad and stupid stuff. How else was it gonna get wideishly distributed? It tries to redeem everything during the denouement. Actually comes close.

Filipe F. Coutinho

A solid debut by Maclean, powered by some nice 4:3 photography. Ultimately, however, Slow West will be a forgettable entrance in the genre, as the film reveals tone and pacing issues as well as the lack of a stronger story to justify the names it attracted.

Carlos Filipe Freitas

... praise should be given to him [Maclean] for cooking the plot with homogeneity and no pressure, and for setting up a memorable climax built on a rousing final shootout.