Slow West

Slow West is set in the American West of the late nineteenth century, where Jay Cavendish, a teenager from a wealthy Scottish family, arrives alone in search of Rose Ross, the young woman he loves. Rose fled Scotland with her father after a violent dispute, and Jay is entirely unprepared for the country he crosses. He falls in with Silas, a quiet and capable traveller who offers to guide him westward for a fee, though Silas has reasons of his own for making the journey, and the two are soon drawn into the dangers of the frontier.

The film was written and directed by John Maclean and was his first feature, followed by Tornado in 2025. Michael Fassbender plays Silas, Kodi Smit-McPhee plays Jay, and the cast also includes Ben Mendelsohn as Payne, Caren Pistorius as Rose Ross and Rory McCann as John Ross. It was produced by Emile Sherman, Iain Canning and Rachel Gardner for Film4 Productions, the BFI, HanWay Films and See-Saw Films, and runs 84 minutes.

Made for about 2 million US dollars, the film took a similar amount at the worldwide box office. On IMDb it holds 6.9 out of 10 from more than 47,000 votes, and on TMDB 6.7 out of 10 from around a thousand votes. A critics' rating of 7.5 out of 10 from 137 reviews places it somewhat above those audience scores.