Never Grow Old

Garlow is a frontier town under the control of Preacher Pike (Danny Webb in full on fire and brimstone mode) and his debauchery hating iron fist. The townsfolk earn a living in the mud and their only respite is their Sunday hymn. Patrick Tate (Emil Hirsch, in real life a horrid little shit), an Irish immigrant, is the town undertaker and he wants more for his family than this life of misery. Then one day an outlaw by the name of Dutch Albert (John Cusack) rides into town and Patrick realises that things are about to be a lot worse.

My god, this was an astoundingly dark watch. Thousands of westerns have portrayed the hardship of life on the edge of civilisation but few of them as successfully as this. The sunny, dusty streets of Tombstone, Laredo and Cheyenne are nowhere to be seen here. What we get is sadness and mud and plenty of it. Menace abounds too. It was a violent, often short lived existence. In a land with no law, psychopaths prowled and pounced upon the unsuspecting and Never Grow Old depicts this with a sense of foreboding that starts with the opening title scene and doesn't let up until the end. It makes for gripping viewing but good jaysus it's exhausting.

The source of this menace is Dutch Albert. A terrifying, nearly demonic presence underplayed brilliantly by John Cusack who's as good here as he's been in years. Cusack, that hero of 80s and 90's cinema, seemed to have given up trying in the past decade (aside from the superb Love & Mercy) so it's nice to see him back in form, even if it is in one of the nastiest bad guy roles of recent memory. You'll shudder every time he opens his mouth and every time he appears the tension hanging in the air will fold you over. Emile Hirsch as Patrick pulls off a surprisingly well done Irish accent but Cusack is the one you'll remember here. Déborah François as Patrick's wife isn't the shrinking violet usually seen in westerns either. Her French Audrey Tate is a fiery soul who's well capable to dealing with what life throws at her.

One thing good westerns have always done is to take present day events and contextualise them into a genre setting. In 2019 we're in the darkest timeline and 1850's Garlow reflects that. Neither era was good to the women of its time. Both are plighted by bully boy religious tactics and terrifying leaders acting like wannabe demigods. Both have people grasping for little beacons of hope in the darkness, both seem to consist of never ending doom. Not much has changed in 170 years, bad men still prey on the weak, people are still gunned down in the streets. We just have WiFi and avocado toast now. Never Grow Old is the story of people who went to America in search of a better life, in search of that famous dream. Then they realised they'd been sold a dud. Sound familiar?

Irish director Ivan Kavanagh's first film in 5 years is a grand way to re-emerge on the scene. His love of the western genre is evident and the whole enterprise has a dark ring of truth to it that is sometimes missing in larger productions. It's darkness will be off-putting to a lot of viewers though. One subplot about a peripheral character is terribly distressing and comes to a climax in a scene that will make a lot of people tune out. But if you can stomach the despair there is a lot to appreciate here.

In selected cinemas now.