Mads Mikkelsen does what a man’s gotta do in Kristian Levring’s gripping Western tale of hate, murder and revenge on the pioneer trail, and injects a Danish twist on that most American of genres.

The year is 1871 and ex-pat Danish soldier Jon (Mads Mikkelsen), who moved to the States after losing to the Germans on the battlefield in 1864, is after seven long years of separation, about to finally reunite with his wife and son from the old country. Taking the stagecoach to his farm near Black Creek, the family are joined by a drunken outlaw and his taciturn sidekick, and when the bandit makes a pass at Jon’s wife, all hell breaks loose. When Jon fights back, his actions send shockwaves through the local community and unleashes the fury of a notorious gang leader Delarue (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), who demands that amends must be paid with human lives. As his fellow townspeople ultimately betray him, Jon is left with little choice but to hunt down Delarue and his posse alone.

Exploding with eye-popping action, smoldering performances by Mikkelsen and Eva Green and featuring some of the most breathtaking vistas ever seen, this rip-roaring, blood-spattered saga of sin and redemption managed to recycle stock elements from Westerns past with no shortage of style.

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