Grit, Guns, and Gray Areas: 8 Neo-Western Movies to Learn the Genre

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Photo Source: “No Country for Old Men” Credit: Alamy

“What you got ain’t nothin’ new,” drawls Ellis (Barry Corbin) to Sheriff Bell (Tommy Lee Jones) in the Coen brothers’ Oscar-winning neo-Western film “No Country for Old Men.” This notion of perpetual struggle exemplifies the genre itself, which flips the traditional Western script by showing that maybe, just maybe, chaos has been winning all along. Let’s saddle up and ride down the definition and characteristics of the neo-Western genre, then trot through some of its most iconic examples.

What is the neo-Western film genre?

Neo-Westerns are films set in modern times that feature the tropes, themes, and hallmarks of the Western genre; films in any setting (contemporary or period piece) that explore modern themes and storylines within the framework of a Western narrative; and/or any Western-style film made after the end of the traditional studio Western period (essentially, all Westerns from the late ‘60s/early ‘70s onward). Today, the term contemporary Western is often used in place of neo-Western.

The rise and fall of the traditional Western genre

Along with film noir, the Western genre is one of the only distinctly American genres, with most stories revolving around the frontier of the country’s past. There was a time when the Western genre was as dominant in Hollywood as today’s superhero genre. Multiple Westerns were cranked out every year under the old studio system, and the genre was both extremely popular and highly bankable at the box office. 

The traditional Western genre eventually came to an end after having its golden age. The exact cutoff point for the end of the classic Western period is debatable, as are the exact reasons for its decline, but we can largely look at the end of the old Hollywood studio system and the rise of New Hollywood as demarcating the decline of traditional Westerns and the subsequent rise of neo-Westerns. 

The stylings and tropes of the genre eventually spread to the cinematic output of other countries around the world, and these international films fall under the neo-Western umbrella. 

Neo-Western subgenres

These are some of the most prominent subgenres that fall under the neo-Western umbrella:

Spaghetti Western: The Italian film industry had its own Western boom with the likes of “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly” (1966, dir. Sergio Leone); these films became known as spaghetti Westerns. Though they pulled from the traditional Western genre, they developed a style and set of hallmarks all their own, which arguably became just as influential as the traditional Hollywood Westerns. For example, “Django Unchained” (2012, dir. Quentin Tarantino) is far more of a spaghetti Western pastiche than it is a traditional Western throwback.

Ramen Western: This term was coined in the publicity campaign for “Tampopo” (1985, dir. Jûzô Itami), and it came to represent other Japanese Westerns as well, including “Sukiyaki Western Django” (2007, dir. Takashi Miike).

Kimchi Western: Following in the tradition of spaghetti Westerns and ramen Westerns, the kimchi Western was adopted as a term for Westerns from South Korea, including “The Good the Bad the Weird” (2008, dir. Kim Jee-woon), which was the most expensive Korean film ever made at that point.

Meat pie Western, aka kangaroo Western: These, as you might have guessed, are Australian Westerns taking place in the outback, a parallel setting to the American frontier. The genre includes “The Man From Snowy River” (1982, dir. George T. Miller) and “The Proposition” (2005, dir. John Hillcoat).

Revisionist Western, aka anti-Western: Coinciding in part with the broader New Hollywood movement, revisionist Westerns took a harsher look at the tropes of the old Western genre from the days of the Hays Code. These could use both period and contemporary settings and often featured antiheros and/or morally ambiguous plots and themes, such as “The Wild Bunch” (1969, dir. Sam Peckinpah) and “McCabe and Mrs. Miller” (1971, dir. Robert Altman).

Blaxploitation Western: An offshoot of both neo-Westerns and blaxploitation, epitomized by films like “Adios Amigo” (1975, dir. Fred Williamson) and “Buck and the Preacher” (1972, dir. Sydney Poitier), this grindhouse-era subgenre inspired recent homages like “The Harder They Fall” (2021, dir. Jeymes Samuel) and “Outlaw Johnny Black” (2023, dir. Michael Jai White).

Notable neo-Western films

These films, which cover both contemporary and historical settings, provide a bird’s eye view of the genre as a whole.

Neo-Westerns with contemporary settings

“The Way of the Gun” (2000, dir. Christopher McQuarrie): A modern action-packed, antihero neo-Western, this film has “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” (1969, dir. George Roy Hill) coursing through its veins.

“No Country for Old Men” (2007, dirs. Joel and Ethan Coen): Perhaps the best encapsulation of the neo-Western genre, this film transports all the hallmarks of the Western genre into a modern setting and paints them in a darker, more cynical light than makers of the traditional Westerns ever dared.

“Hell or High Water” (2016, dir. David Mackenzie): Screenwriter and sometimes director Taylor Sheridan is likely the name most directly connected with the current state of the neo-Western genre. Along with “Hell or High Water,” he’s known for the rest of his unconnected Frontier Trilogy—which includes “Sicario” (2015, dir. Denis Villeneuve) and “Wind River” (2017, dir. Taylor Sheridan)—and prolific television output, such as “Yellowstone” and its spinoffs.

“El Camino” (2019, dir. Vince Gilligan): Along with this sidequel film, the entire “Breaking Bad” universe can be considered neo-Western media. It’s fitting that the end of Jesse Pinkman’s filmic adventure culminates in a classic Western standoff. Spoilers below!

Neo-Westerns with olden-times settings

“Unforgiven” (1992, dir. Clint Eastwood): After Eastwood built his name off of spaghetti Westerns, he kept the genre’s legacy alive by making neo-Westerns. Pulling double duty in front of and behind the camera for this depiction of an aging outlaw, he went home with the best director and best picture Academy Awards.

“The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford” (2007, dir. Andrew Dominik): This melancholic and visually sumptuous film casts one of the most notorious figures of the Wild West in a markedly different light than ever before.

“Meek’s Cutoff” (2010, dir. Kelly Reichardt): The slowest and artsiest neo-Western on our list, “Meek’s Cutoff” retains the Old West setting while purposefully eschewing practically all of the genre’s major tropes and trappings.

“Bone Tomahawk” (2015, dir. S. Craig Zahler): A novel fusing of neo-Western and horror makes this film excel in both genres and nail Western tropes—while refusing to be predictable or take any of the easy options.

Neo-Western TV shows

And if you just can’t get enough, here are some bonus neo-Western TV shows to check out for extended viewing:

  • “Deadwood” (2004-2006)
  • “Justified” (2010-2015)
  • “Longmire” (2012-2017)
  • “Godless” (2017)
  • “The Good Lord Bird” (2020)
  • “The English” (2022)