classicsoncall Review of The Bygone

The Bygone (2019)

"... who's to say cowboys and Indians all disappeared?"

[7/10 · 2 March 2021]

This isn't a bad little film from an independent production company, despite all the negative reviews to be found here. I hadn't heard or seen any of the principals in the picture before, and they did a credible, if elementary job in their respective roles. The story involves human trafficking for the purpose of selling Native American women into prostitution, a hideous subject to be sure, and an unlikely one for a neo-noir, modern day Western, but it serves as an interesting subject. The main bad guy is the one who stands out here, Dominic Chapel, going by the name of Paris (Shawn Hatosy) is an opportunist who victimizes young Indian women by treating them nicely at first, and then kidnapping them into his web of corruption. The hero in the story is atypical in the sense that for most of the story he's powerless, getting beat upon and finding it a struggle to stand up to the bully and his stand-by thugs. But from the moment Kip Summer (Graham Phillips) inadvertently saves Laura/Waniya (Sydney Schafer) from an aggressive predator, he takes it upon himself to deliver her from a tortured existence at the hands of her tormentor. There's also a side story that will remind you of countless B Westerns whereby Kip's uncle Beckett (Ritchie Coster) attempts to finagle his brother's (Jamie McShane) vast ranch out from under him with the intent of procuring an oil pipeline. The finale ratchets up to an inevitable conclusion in which the showdown between Kip and the merciless Paris is somewhat predictably handled by Waniya, who ultimately finds the courage to stand up for herself. In another nod to countless Westerns of all stripes, the hero and the girl take that fateful ride on horseback, if not into the sunset, at least to the prospect of a better life.