An old Confederate army Captain, Kyle Kidd (Tom Hanks) finds a young girl cowering in the bush, she speaks in the Kiowa tongue, a Native American language, she is the only one to survive an ambush.

Eventually, the Captain decides he must be the one to help her, so begins the journey across hundreds of miles of the Wild West to reunite the child with the only family she has left.

This alters the Captains’ own journey, a rebuild of his life after all the killing he’s done through the war. Now he travels from town to town reading newspapers to the locals about faraway lands they’ll never see.

This Western has all the classic hallmarks, wide-open plains, gunfights and the grit associated with living in the 1870’s, but nothing is overplayed, it has a no nonsense Deadwood feel to it.

There are times where Director Paul Greengrass (The Bourne Supremacy) leans into Political territory in terms of spreading ‘fake news’, witness the scene of a local tyrannical town mayor, but Greengrass merely gives it a jab.

Instead smartly focusing on the Captain and the young girl, he knows he’s in good hands because Hanks is Hanks and the girl, played by German actress Helene Zengel, is absolutely wonderful, her stare will rip right through you.

Produced by Netflix, News of the World is a tense slow burn with enough action to keep you invested. It’s at times thrilling, but mostly a brilliantly acted Western movie.

hallymustang rating : 4/5 📽📽📽📽