Collider | ‘Bone Tomahawk’ Review

Collider

One of the many intriguing elements of the western genre is how it deals with civilization. It sits on the bleeding edge between the past and the modern, the place where law is still trying to finds its place, and those outside of it can still be glorified. It’s the violence of the frontier given over to a setting, and when S. Craig Zahler’s Bone Tomahawk contemplates the nature of the violence inherent in the genre, he comes away with a surprisingly rich film that belies its B-film antagonist. While the gory “other” may be the movie’s hook, the real strength in Bone Tomahawk comes from its cast and their low-key performances that make the frontier feel real, and make the audience question what constitutes civilized society or if such a notion is just a convenient illusion.