''Brimstone'' is a 2016 psychological western horror film written and directed by

Martin Koolhoven Martinus Wouter "Martin" Koolhoven (born 25 April 1969) is a Dutch film director and screenwriter. Internationally he is most known for ''Schnitzel Paradise'' (2005), ''Winter in Wartime (film), Winter in Wartime'' (2008) and ''Brimstone (2016 f ...

, starring

Dakota Fanning Hannah Dakota Fanning (born February 23, 1994) is an American actress. She rose to prominence at the age of seven for her performance as Lucy Dawson in the drama film ''I Am Sam'' (2001), for which she received a Screen Actors Guild Award nomina ...

, Guy Pearce,

Emilia Jones Emilia Annis I. Jones (born 23 February 2002) is an English actress. She played the lead role of Ruby Rossi in the Academy Award-winning 2021 film '' CODA''. She has received several accolades, including a Screen Actors Guild Award and a nomin ...

Kit Harington Christopher Catesby Harington (born 26 December 1986) is an English actor who is widely known for his role as Jon Snow in the HBO epic fantasy television series '' Game of Thrones'' (2011–2019). After studying at the Royal Central School o ...

, and

Carice van Houten Carice Anouk van Houten () is a Dutch actress and singer (born 5 September 1976 in Leiderdorp). Her first leading role in the television film '' Suzy Q'' (1999) won her the Golden Calf for Best Acting in a Television Drama; two years later, s ...

. The film is a Dutch-American as well as French, German, Belgian and Swedish international production. It was selected to compete for the Golden Lion at the

73rd Venice International Film Festival The 73rd annual Venice International Film Festival was held from 31 August to 10 September 2016. English director Sam Mendes was the President of the Jury for the main competition. The opening night film was Damien Chazelle's musical ''La La Lan ...

on 3 September 2016, where it caused controversy. It premiered in the Netherlands on 12 January 2017, where it was very well received, as in the rest of Europe and was released on 10 March in the United States, where it received mixed reviews from critics.

Plot

The plot consists of four acts, which are presented in

anachronic An anachronism (from the Greek , 'against' and , 'time') is a chronological inconsistency in some arrangement, especially a juxtaposition of people, events, objects, language terms and customs from different time periods. The most common type ...

order. The chronological order is acts 3 (Genesis), 2 (Exodus), 1 (Revelation), 4 (Retribution). So, after the first act, Revelation, the following acts are what happened before and the fourth act is chronologically the last. 1. Revelation
Liz lives in the

old west The American frontier, also known as the Old West or the Wild West, encompasses the geography, history, folklore, and culture associated with the forward wave of American expansion in mainland North America that began with European colonial ...

with her husband Eli and two children: Eli's son Matthew from Eli's prior marriage, and Liz and Eli's young daughter Sam. Liz is a midwife who can hear but is mute, and so communicates through sign language. A new minister comes to their church, and the moment that Liz hears his voice, she seems to recognize him and is terrified. Later that day Liz is forced to choose between delivering a baby safely or saving its mother; she chooses to euthanise the baby and save the mother, without telling the mother until after the procedure is finished. Afterwards, the father, Nathan, blames Liz. A drunken Nathan later shows up at Eli and Liz's house, violent and threatening; Nathan claims Liz is responsible for his son's death. In the middle of the fight, the Reverend shows up and tells Nathan to leave. He then goes into Eli's house and has a mysterious talk with Liz, saying she is guilty of the murder of Nathan's son and must be punished. As Eli overhears some of the conversation, the Reverend leaves the house. Later Eli's sheep are found dead, and he seeks out Nathan, who has since disappeared. Liz later sneaks off at night to murder the Reverend, but finds her daughter's doll in the Reverend's bed instead. Meanwhile, the Reverend disembowels Eli, and leaves him to die in his barn. As he is dying, Eli tells Matthew to take the family up into the mountains to Eli's father, before the boy shoots him. Liz and the children flee the farm. 2. Exodus
A young girl named Joanna walking through the desert is picked up by a Chinese family. In the mining town of Bismuth, she's sold to a brothel owned by Frank. Joanna is protected by Sally until Sally is hanged for shooting a violent customer; Elizabeth then protects Joanna. After Elizabeth bites the tongue of an abusive customer, her tongue is cut off in punishment. Joanna teaches Elizabeth sign language from a book the doctor gave her. Elizabeth plans to sneak out of Bismuth to start a new life, and arranges through a marriage broker to marry Eli. The Minister comes to the brothel and becomes violent with Joanna. Elizabeth saves Joanna and is murdered by the Minister. Joanna slashes his throat and runs away, cutting off her own tongue and taking Elizabeth's place with Eli. 3. Genesis
In the desert, two badly wounded men, Samuel and Wolf, are the last survivors in a dispute over gold that has left several other men dead. They depart on a single horse. Young Joanna lives with her mother, Anna, and father, who is the Minister. Samuel and Wolf collapse at the farm and Joanna secretly cares for them. Anna confronts the Minister when she realizes he lusts after their daughter, so he beats and humiliates her by placing a

scold's bridle A scold's bridle, sometimes called a witch's bridle, a gossip's bridle, a brank's bridle, or simply branks, was an instrument of punishment, as a form of public humiliation. It was an iron muzzle in an iron framework that enclosed the head ...

on her head. In response, Anna commits suicide in full view of the church congregation. The next day the Minister takes Joanna to church and starts to perform a wedding ceremony between himself and his daughter. Samuel tries to rescue her, but the Minister murders him. Her father whips Joanna and rapes her. In the morning she runs off. 4. Retribution
Matthew is shot by the Minister as he follows Liz to her father-in-law's place in the mountains. He murders her father-in-law and tells Liz he will beat and rape her daughter, but Liz murders him instead. Some time later, after Liz has turned Eli's place into a

sawmill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes (dimensi ...

, Nathan arrives to arrest her. The Minister had sent him to Bismuth where he became a deputy and then sheriff. Having found a

wanted poster A wanted poster (or wanted sign) is a poster distributed to let the public know of a person whom authorities wish to apprehend. They generally include a picture of the person, either a photograph when one is available or of a facial composite ...

of Elizabeth Brundy (the woman without a tongue who killed Frank before she saved Liz/Joanna), Nathan has come to arrest her (Liz). As Nathan is escorting her onto a ferry, with a last look at her daughter playing on the shore, Liz throws herself in the lake and drowns. Her daughter Sam, now a grown woman with a child of her own, remembers her well.

Cast

as Liz *

as Joanna * Guy Pearce as The Reverend (Minister) *

as Samuel *

as Anna * Jack Roth as Wolf * Jack Hollington as Matthew * Paul Anderson as Frank *

Carla Juri Carla Juri (born 2 January 1985) is a Swiss actress. Her acting credits include ''180°'', ''Wetlands'', '' Finsterworld'' and '' Blade Runner 2049''. Early life and education Juri was raised in Ambrì, a village in the Italian-speaking Can ...

as Elizabeth *

Vera Vitali Anna "Vera" Vitali (born 3 October 1981) is a Swedish actress and playwright, who stars as Lisa in the drama series '' Bonus Family''. Biography Anna Vera Vitali was born October 3, 1981 in Stockholm. Vera Vitali grew up in a film family. Her ...

as Sally *

William Houston William Churchill Houston ( 1746 – August 12, 1788), a Founding Father of the United States, was a teacher, lawyer and statesman. Houston served as a delegate representing New Jersey in both the Continental Congress and Constitutional Conventio ...

as Eli * Bill Tangradi as Nathan *

Naomi Battrick Naomi Faye Battrick (born 11 April 1991) is an English actress. Career She was born in Kettering Northamptonshire and her first television appearance was in a guest role on ''The Bill'' as Miranda Roscoe, following which she won the part of 15- ...

as older Sam *

Ivy George Ivy George is an American child actress. Her first acting role was opposite Robin Williams on his last television series before his death. She has two younger siblings, Finnegan and Elsa, who are also actors. She enjoys karate, swimming, creating ...

as Sam * Justin Salinger as Doctor *

Frederick Schmidt Frederick Schmidt is a British actor who has appeared in such films '' Mission: Impossible – Fallout'' (2018) and '' Angel Has Fallen'' (2019). Career In his early career, he starred in many British films. In '' Mission: Impossible – Fallou ...

as Sheriff Zeke * Adrian Sparks as Eli's Father *

Joseph Kennedy Joseph Patrick Kennedy (September 6, 1888 – November 18, 1969) was an American businessman, investor, and politician. He is known for his own political prominence as well as that of his children and was the patriarch of the Irish-American Ken ...

as the husband of pregnant woman *

Martha Mackintosh Martha Mackintosh (born 1992) is an English actress best known for playing Katie Jackson in the Sky1 TV comedy drama series ''Stella''. She is the daughter of actors Steven Mackintosh Steven Mackintosh (born 30 April 1967) is an English a ...

as the pregnant woman * Hon Ping Tang as Meng * Fergus O'Donnell as Fred Eastman * Joe David Walters as customer Sally *

Ad van Kempen Ad van Kempen (born 12 July 1944) is a Dutch actor. He performed in more than forty films since 1974. Selected filmography External links * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kempen, Ad van 1944 births Living people 20th-century Dutch male actors Dutch ...

as Arie * Frieda Pittoors as Agatha * Farren Morgan as Mike * Charlotte Croft as Abigail * Baely Saunders as Jackie * Paula Siu as Meng's wife * Sue Maund as Abigail's mother * Hans-Joachim van Wanrooij as Blacksmith

Production

On 5 February 2015, Guy Pearce and

Mia Wasikowska Mia Wasikowska ( ; born 25 October 1989) is an Australian actress. She made her screen debut on the Australian television drama '' All Saints'' in 2004, followed by her feature film debut in '' Suburban Mayhem'' (2006). She first became known t ...

were the first to be announced as part of the cast of the film. Later, Robert Pattinson came on board to portray an outlaw along with

. In May 2015, Koolhoven confirmed that Jack Roth had joined the cast of the film. In June 2015, '' The Hollywood Reporter'' confirmed that

and

had replaced Wasikowska and Pattinson in the film, respectively. In 2017, Pattinson said he regretted not doing ''Brimstone'' and called it "his own stupid fault". Principal photography began from 15 June 2015, and took place in Germany, Hungary,

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous c ...

and Spain.

Release

''Brimstones first commercial release was in The Netherlands on 12 January 2017, becoming Martin Koolhoven's fifth consecutive hit film. The film was also released on 10 March 2017, in selected theaters and video on demand in the United States. It was sold to more than 80 countries in the world, making it the best sold Dutch movie ever.

Festival screenings

''Brimstone'' was shown in competition at the Venice Film Festival. After Venice, the film had its North American premiere as a ''Special Presentation'' at the

Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the largest publicly attended film festivals in the world, attracting over 480,000 people annually. Since its founding in 1976, TIFF has grown to become a permane ...

where it received positive reviews. as it later did in other festivals like the Sitges Film Festival,

Critical reception

In The Netherlands, the film received generally positive reviews from critics and opened strongly. The readers of ''

True West Magazine ''True West Magazine'' (alternate title: ''True West'') is an American magazine that covers the icons like Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday, Billy the Kid, and Jesse James and relates American Old West history back to the present day to show the role conte ...

'' chose the movie as Best Foreign Western Movie. Koolhoven won the Gouden Pen (Golden Pen) for the screenplay and the Gouden Film (Golden Film) for the film. 29 September 2017 ''Brimstone'' won six Golden Calves (often called ''"The Dutch Oscars"'') at the

Netherlands Film Festival The Netherlands Film Festival ( nl, Nederlands Film Festival) is an annual film festival, held in September and October of each year in the city of Utrecht. During the ten-day festival, Dutch film productions and co-productions are exhibited. Be ...

, breaking the old record of four. On review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a rating of 42% based on 76 reviews and the average rating is 5.09/10. On Metacritic, the film has a score of 45 based on 17 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews". While '' The Independent'' wrote "''Brimstone'' is raw and very powerful filmmaking, a movie that can't help but get under your skin", '' Variety'' wrote it was "highfalutin exploitation", blaming it on the Netherlands, writing, "It is, after all, a country that ever since the 1960s, especially in Amsterdam, has profferred a more liberal view than almost any other place of what might euphemistically be termed 'youthful sexuality'." Roger Ebert's publication referred to the film as "dimwitted, amoral exploitation" and accused Koolhoven of identifying most with the murderous and incestuous Reverend. Kevin Maher of the ''Times UK'' called it "an exploitation western that veers from self-importance to high camp." ''Brimstone'' was released in the United Kingdom 29 September 2017, and was well received by British press. '' Empire Magazine'' gave it four stars and called it "white-knuckle tense", and

Peter Bradshaw Peter Bradshaw (born 19 June 1962) is a British writer and film critic. He has been chief film critic at ''The Guardian'' since 1999, and is a contributing editor at ''Esquire''. Early life and education Bradshaw was educated at Haberdashers ...

wrote in '' The Guardian'': "This epically long, lurid, violent western from Dutch film-maker Martin Koolhoven has a kind of Tarantino-ish prolixity and narrative ingenuity. Despite its very indulgent length, it never bores."

Awards

* Nominated – Golden Lion, Venice Film Festival * Winner –

Golden Film The Golden Film ( nl, Gouden Film) is a film award recognizing domestic box office achievements in the Netherlands. The Golden Film is awarded to films from the Netherlands once they have sold . The award is an initiative by the Netherlands Fi ...

* Winner – Golden Pen,

* Nominated – Best Film in the Official Competition,

London Film Festival The BFI London Film Festival is an annual film festival founded in 1957 and held in the United Kingdom, running for two weeks in October with co-operation from the British Film Institute. It screens more than 300 films, documentaries and shor ...

* Nominated – PFS Award (Human Rights) by Political Film Society * Nominated – Audience Award (Best Narrative Feature), Palm Springs International Film Festival * Winner – Best Foreign Western Movie chosen by the readers of

* Winner – Ensor Award, Beste Co-productie at the

Ostend Film Festival The Ostend Film Festival ( nl, 'Filmfestival Oostende') is an annual film festival held in Ostend Ostend ( nl, Oostende, ; french: link=no, Ostende ; german: link=no, Ostende ; vls, Ostende) is a coastal city and municipality, located in the ...

* Nominated – Golden Calf,

, Best Actress in a supporting Role,

* Nominated – Golden Calf,

Job ter Burg Job ter Burg (born 13 September 1972 in Maarn) is a Dutch film editor, best known for his long-term collaborations with directors Martin Koolhoven, Paul Verhoeven and Alex van Warmerdam. He was invited to join the Film Editors Branch of the Acad ...

, Best Editing,

* Nominated – Golden Calf,

, Best Screenplay,

* Winner – Golden Calf, Floris Vos, Best Production Design,

* Winner – Golden Calf, Tom Holkenborg, Best Music,

* Winner – Golden Calf, Herman Pieëte, Best Sound Design,

* Winner – Golden Calf, Rogier Stoffers, Best Director of Photography,

* Winner – Golden Calf,

, Best Direction,

* Winner – Golden Calf, Els Vandevorst, Best Film,

* Nominated – Best Feature Length Film, Official Fantastic Competition, Sitges Film Festival * Nominated – Best Film, International Ecumenical Award, Jameson CineFest – Miskolc International Film Festival * Nominated – Golden Frog, Rogier Stoffers, The International Film Festival of the Art of Cinematography Camerimage * Winner –

European Film Award The European Film Awards (or European Film Academy Awards) have been presented annually since 1988 by the European Film Academy to recognize excellence in European cinematic achievements. The awards are given in 19 categories, of which the mos ...

, Leendert van Nimwegen, European Hair & Makeup Artist, European Film Academy * Winner – Beste Dutch Film 2017, Circle of Dutch Film Journalists (KNF) * Nominated – Zilveren Krulstaart,

, Best Feature, Screenplay Award * Winner – DirectorsNL Award,

, Best Feature, Director's Award given by DDG and Vevam Members * Nominated – Saturn Award for Best International Film * Winner – Best Feature, Almeria Western Film Festival

References

External links

* * {{Golden Calf for Best Feature Film 2016 films 2016 independent films 2016 thriller drama films 2010s feminist films 2016 Western (genre) films American feminist films Dutch independent films English-language Dutch films English-language French films English-language German films English-language Danish films Films about child sexual abuse Films about dysfunctional families Films about grieving Films about prostitution in the United States Films directed by Martin Koolhoven Films about rape Films scored by Junkie XL Revisionist Western (genre) films Incest in film 2010s English-language films 2010s American films