Genre: Western
Director: Bong Joon-ho
Writer: Wyatt Allen
Cast: Brad Pitt, Charlie Hunnam, Adam Driver, Hugo Weaving, Jon Bernthal, Ciaran Hinds, Jacob Vargas, Jacob Tremblay, Sunny Suljic
Plot: 1872 in Graystone
Two boys run wildly through the city, forming a pistol with their hand, acting as if they were in a gun fight with each other. Suddenly one of them named Billy Travis (Jacob Tremblay) kneels down holding his heart acting as if his friend James Maynard (Sunny Suljic) shot him. He falls theatrical to the ground while whispering out „you got me“. After they both laugh they start to wander through the city. They make their way into a general store where James is talking to the store owner so that Billy could use the distraction to steal some food and put it in his clothes but the plan didnt work out and store owner saw everything. The boys quickly run out of the store while the store owner is following them and cursing them out. He really tries his hardest to get them but Billy and James are just too quick and clever for him. Not long after they finally got rid of him they settled down at a nice place and shared the food they just stole. It is already getting dark James tells Billy that he has to go home soon but he tells Billy that he can sleep in their barn tonight as James‘ mother probably won’t notice. When they arrive at James‘ house, James is going through the frontdoor of their house and Billy sneaks inside the barn while listenting to James‘ mother complaining to her son for drifting around this late.
A couple days later Butch Morgan (Brad Pitt), Carl Merrit (Hugo Weaving), Charles Glass (Jon Bernthal) and the rest of his crew arrive in Graystone. The people around them are anxious. They all have heard about the Morgan gang and don’t want any trouble with them. Especially Butch Morgan is famous for killing a lawman very high up. Butch Morgan is giving everybody in his crew a job before he makes his way to the saloon. He greets a group of locals he is passing by very friendly while tipping his hat.
Billy is wandering through Graystone worrying about nothing as he sees Carl Merrit counting his money and putting it back in his satchel. Billy decides to follow him without Merrit noticing him. Merrit is walking by a young good looking lady and tells her she should spend the night with him. That is destraction enough for Billy, Billy grabs Carl Merrit‘s satchel and runs away with it only to run hard into Butch Morgan so that he bounces off of him and straight to the floor. Carl Merrit grabs him by his neck and calls him a little bastard and a parasite but Butch calms him down and saves the boy from Merrit. Butch tells Billy that it‘s very dangerous to rob a man with a gun and asks him if his parents never told him that. Billy explains to him that his parents already died and he lives on the street since then. Billy reminds Butch of himself when he was younger and so he offers the boy to come with them and join their gang.
Billy joins the Morgan gang and Butch teaches him how to read and write and how to ride a horse. Billy always wants to joins the gang when they go on heists but is never allowed to. He always has to stay at their camp. Butch also wouldnt show him how to use a gun, even after Billy almost begs for it. He would always tell him he isn’t ready.
One day when most of the gang is on the run their camp is attacked by bandits. Billy and the rest give their best to defend the camp but never stood a chance. When the others return they find a beaten up Billy and a terrorized camp. This was the day Butch decided to teach Billy how to use a gun. Away from the camp they find a place to train. Butch puts up some empty bottles that function as their targets. Butch shows him the fundamentals before he lets him shoot. Billy fails a couple of times but Butch calms him down and tells him to close one eye while he aims. Not long after this he hits the first bottle which makes both of them very excited.
Butch and Billy sit next to each other watching the sun go down while a pile of broken glass lays behind them. Butch tells Billy that he is very proud of him and that he enjoys watching him become a man. Billy is sharing his dream of becoming the most dangerous and wanted gunslinger there is with Butch but Butch doesn’t like it. He thinks it’s not about the fame and glory, for him it was always about supporting the people around him, his family. Butch never had kids so he always saw his gang as his family.
The gang is riding to a spot that Carl Merrit told them about. This time Billy is with the gang. Butch wants him to gain a bit of expierence but told him to hide and get out the way when thinks go south. They arrive at their destination, a road which Carl Merrit figured out would be perfect for an ambush. Charly Glass is checking if the stagecoach they are waiting for is coming but he doesn’t see any stagecoach. Merrit is telling them to be patient. Butch Morgan wasn’t a fan of the plan from the beginning but Merrit and Glass persuaded him to do it. They are waiting for over an hour until finally something happens but it’s not what they were waiting for. A lot of lawmen suprise them from the back and start to shoot at them. It was all a setup. Butch screams at Billy to run away. Carl Merrit turns to Butch and gives him a headshot exposing himself as the one who betrayed his gang. Billy runs away until he finds a big rock formation to hide behind while he holds his gun tight and cries hearing all the gun shots that kill his gang.
15 YEARS LATER
A now grown up Billy Travis (Charlie Hunnam) hides behind rocks while pulling out a wanted poster out of his pockets. He moves over to a campfire where three people are resting. Billy asks them if they’ve heart about Emmit Silver. The guy in the middle exposes himself as the wanted Emmit Silver (Ciarán Hinds). Billy wants Silver to come with him. The other two guys are about to pull their gun but Billy quickly shoots them. He also aims at Emmit Silver but Silver directly puts his hands up and tells Billy that he will come with him. Billy ties him up and puts him on the back of his horse and they ride to the next sheriff’s office. They arrive and Billy gives him to the sheriff to collect his bounty. On his way out he sees another wanted poster this time the wanted man is Carl Merrit. Billy hasn’t seen him since the ambush where most of his gang died. Silver tells Billy that he knows that Merrit and his new gangs took over an old fort close to Graystone and it’s almost impossible to break in especially alone. Emmit Silver offers to help Billy if Billy helps him to get free. Billy tells him he doesn‘t need any help.
He rides to the fort where Carl Merrit is supposed to be. From a distance he sees the place is filled with bandits. Silver told the truth there is no chance to go in there alone. He decides to visit his old hometown Graystone.
After arriving there he directly meets his old friend James Maynard (Adam Driver) who is the sheriff here. They are happy to see each other and share a hug. James asks how Billy survived when the Morgan gang took him with them, having no idea that Billy actually joined the gang voluntarily. Billy lied to him telling him he ran away one day and was too scared to return to Graystone and now he is a bounty hunter who basically lives wherever he is needed. James is glad Billy is still alive and also happy almost all of the Morgan gang died. Billy mentions his newest mission to hunt down Carl Meritt and asks if James would be down to help him but James tells him it’s too dangerous and he already has enough to do in Graystone
Billy rides to Emmit Silver who is still locked behind bars. He arrives at the jail house at night and is looking inside the window bars searching for Silver. When he finally founds him he makes a deal with Silver. Billy frees him and than Silver will help to kill Merrit. Silver agrees and they shake hands. Billy tells Silver to go away from the window as he lays a dynamite bar on the window frame. Billy keeps distance an the dynamite explodes completely destroying the window bars. Silver jumps out of the window and on Billy’s horse as they ride away. On their escape Silver tells Billy he already has a plan, they have to go to the saloon in Graystone. Billy tells him he knows the sheriff of Graystone and will ask him if he comes with him but Silver doesn’t like the idea and tells him he can’t trust a man with star-shaped badge.
Silver and Billy make their way into a saloon where they sit down at the bar and order two bears. Billy wonders if this is already part of his Silver’s plan. Silver tells him to relax and to be patient as they start to conversate. Billy asks him how Carl Merrit is still free after all those years. Silver explains to him that Merrit made a deal with some people high up. Merrit betrayed his former gang for a lot of money and the promise that the government won’t hunt him down for some years. At the time the deal was made it seemed like the only way to kill Butch Morgan and the members of his gang who where considered the most dangerous gunslingers in the whole west. Silver believes that the lawmen still get told to not touch him.
Silver orders more and more beer and gets really drunk. He starts to play poker with some people and gets really angry at someone after he loses, almost getting into a fight with him. Billy is also getting angry at Silver, telling him he didn’t get him out of prison for this shit. Silver tells him that the man they were waiting for finally arrived as Victor Estevez just entered the saloon. Silver knows that Estevez is a gunsmith who is forced by Merrit to supply them with guns and ammo. The one time he refused to do it they destroyed his shop and threatened to kill him. Billy & Silver go up to him and carefully asks him if he would be on board. Estevez doesn’t have to think long about it as he absolutely hates Carl Merrit and was just waiting on the right moment to get his revenge. The three decide to meet up at a more private place to discuss their plan.
Billy decides to visit his old friend James Maynard one last time before they execute their plan. He tells James that he recruited two other people that will help him to hunt down Carl Merrit and they now have a plan and a realistic chance of getting him especially if James joins them. But James Maynard turns him down again but wishes him good luck.
The day has finally come and Billy Travis and Emmit Silver hide inside a wagon which is filled with guns and ammunition. Victor Estevez drives the stagecoach to the fort where Carl Meritt and his gang are staying. The bandits trust him in and let him in without checking the wagon. He drives the stagecoach to the middle of the fort so Billy and Silver can perfectly jump out of it, suprising the bandits. With the moment of suprise on their side they can quickly kill a bunch of bandits before they even know what is happening. A shoot-out starts. Billy, Victor Estevez and Emmit Silver are still heavily outnumbered but there are way more skilled than Merrit and his people and manage to thin out the remaining outlaws. After killing two people with a trick shot Estevez gets a bit to cocky and celebrates what he has just done but directly gets shot in the head by Merrit. After killing the remaining outlaws the whole place is silent.
Billy Travis and Emmit Silver are not sure if Carl Merrit is still there or managed to sneak out of the fort. They carefully look out of cover and only see dead bodies. Emmit Silver is sure Merrit is gone and stands up but Billy uses his arm to try to pull him back down. Suddenly Merrit jumps out of his hiding place and starts shooting at them. He hits Emmit Silver directly in his chest and also manages to wound Billy Travis. Billy reacts quickly and shoots Merrit in his upper body causing him to fall down. Billy painfully walks over to Merrit and secures his gun. Merrit knows he will not make it out alive. He tells Billy he knew it was a mistake that the others let Billy be part of the gang. Merrit raves about how much he enjoyed betraying all of them. Especially the look of Butch Morgan‘s face a second before he killed him was pure satisfaction. Billy puts his gun between Merrit’s eyes and tells him "This is for Butch" before he pulls the trigger and finally kills him. Billy’s view gets blurry his wound is bleeding heavily. He falls to the ground
Billy is fighting for consciousness as he hears a man on a horse approaching him. The man gets down from his horse and looks down on Billy. Billy recognizes his old friend James Maynard. Maynard is amazed that Billy managed to kill them all and is happy about how much less work he now has. But Maynard tells Billy there is one he forgot to kill. Maynard aims his gun at Billy and tells him that Billy is the last living member of the famous Morgan gang and they always knew, they were just waiting on the right moment. Billy is using his last reserves to mouth the word "please". The screen turns black and we hear the sound of a gun shot.
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