the butcher's crown movie review

‘Butcher’s Crossing’ Review: Nicolas Cage’s Slow-Burn Turn Propels Gabe Polsky’s Grimly Fatalistic Western

Fred Hechinger co-stars as a Harvard dropout who risks losing more than his innocence in the wilderness of 1870s Colorado.    

By Joe Leydon

Film Critic

• ‘Crescent City’ Review: Overplotted Thriller Sustains Interest Primarily with Yeoman Performances by Well-Cast Leads 2 weeks ago
• ‘Heart Strings’ Review: Schmaltzy Musical Drama About a Rigged Reality Show Is Pleasant but Predictable 2 months ago
• ‘Kalki 2898 AD’ Review: Lavish Tollywood Sci-Fi Epic Is an Unabashedly Derivative Spectacle 2 months ago

Related Stories

Can Today’s Tech Touchstones Solve Hollywood’s Loneliness Epidemic?

Disney Fined $36,000 for Fatal Fall on Set of Marvel Series 'Wonder Man'

Popular on variety.

When we first encounter Miller in Butcher’s Crossing, an aptly named 1874 Kansas town where the major industry is freighting buffalo hides, Miller seems implacably obsessed yet not entirely unreasonable as he talks about making a once-in-a-lifetime “big kill” in a valley hidden deep in the Colorado Territory. He claims he stumbled across the place years earlier, and witnessed hundreds, maybe thousands, of buffalo roaming undisturbed. All he needs to capture “one of the biggest hauls anyone has ever seen,” Miller says, is a dependable crew and, of course, financial backing.

Unfortunately, Will ignores McDonald’s counsel. Even more unfortunately, he soon makes the acquaintance of Miller, who is more than willing to overlook the young man’s inexperience and bring him along for the dangerous ride —provided Miller makes a sizable cash investment in the enterprise.

“Butcher’s Crossing” is at heart a brutal coming-of-age story, as Will — a character who might be described as a tenderfoot in a more traditional Western — loses his innocence while discovering that McDonald’s warnings were, if anything, understated. He joins Miller, a crotchety Bible-thumping cook named Charlie (Xander Berkeley), and a cynical skinner named Fred (Jeremy Bobb) in the long trek through dangerous territory that other hunters have avoided, to arrive at the site in the Colorado mountains where Miller plans to make his dreams come true.

But dreams have a nasty habit of turning into nightmares.

Even before they reach the remote valley, Miller comes across as a volatile mix of Captain Ahab and John Wayne’s Thomas Dunson in “Red River,” relentlessly pushing himself and his men as they risk dying of thirst, encountering hostile Indians (who are referenced but never seen), or simply getting irretrievably lost. After they finally do reach their destination, however, Miller — whose shaven head unavoidably conjures memories of Marlon Brando in “Apocalypse Now”) — descends into something perilously close to madness as he systematically slaughters scads of bison, winding up with far more hides than he and his team could reasonably expect to transport back to Butcher’s Crossing.

Will is repeatedly sickened by the carnage — indeed, the graphic depiction of the killing and skinning may repulse members of the audience as well — and Fred pointedly warns that they should leave before winter snow blocks their path home. Which, of course, it eventually does, setting us up for an intense drama on the order of “The Treasure of Sierra Madre” as greed and isolation take their psychic toll.

Trouble is, there is a conspicuous dearth of genuine suspense throughout “Butcher’s Crossing,” a movie that, while compelling in stretches, is too ponderous overall to achieve the impact for which it obviously strives. Polsky peppers the film with Will’s dreams and hallucinations, sequences that resemble nothing so much as the bad LSD trips in drug-centric 1960s exploitation flicks, and are more annoying than illuminating. The characters are so thinly written that they are almost entirely defined by the actors playing them. This is particularly true of the young prostitute played by Rachel Keller, who’s seen early in the film and later in Will’s fantasies, and doubtless will remind some movie buffs of the belly dancer who fleetingly appears in Robert Aldrich’s “The Flight of the Phoenix” primarily so they could place a woman on the poster.  

Ultimately, “Butcher’s Crossing” works best as a blunt-force cautionary tale depicting how the West was lost because of men like Miller, who wantonly raped the land while seeking fortunes or, in Will’s case, satisfying their curiosity. The bitterly ironic ending stops short of force-feeding just desserts to all of the characters. But it’s a satisfying conclusion nonetheless.

Reviewed at AMC Gulf Pointe 30, Houston, Oct. 21, 2023. In Toronto Film Festival 2022. MPA Rating: R. Running time: 107 MIN.

• Production: A Saban Films release of an Altitude Film Entertainment, Ingenious Media presentation of a Gabe Polsky Prod. production, in association with Altitude Film Entertainment, Phiphen Pictures. Producers: Will Clarke, Andy Mayson, Gabe Polsky, Molly Conners, Amanda Bowers, Gabe Polsky. Executive producers: William V. Bromley, Shanan Becker, Jonathan Saba, Ness Saban, Richard J. Berthy, Jane Sinisi, Alan Polsky, Peter Touche, Christelle Conan, Andrea Scarso, Mike Runagall, Gusharn Khaira.
• Crew: Director: Gabe Polsky. Screenplay: Gabe Polsky, Liam Satre Meloy, based on the novel by John Edward Williams. Camera: David Gallego. Editor: Nick Pezzillo. Music:
• With: Nicolas Cage, Fred Hechinger, Rachel Keller, Xander Berkeley, Jeremy Bobb, Paul Raci.

More from Variety

Jonathan Majors ‘Heartbroken’ Over Robert Downey Jr.’s Doctor Doom Replacing Kang in Next ‘Avengers’ Films; He’d Still Return to MCU ‘If That’s What Marvel Wants’

Robert Downey Jr. Turned Down Iron Man Cameo in ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ After Reading Scene; Writers Also Had an Idea to Bring the Six Original Avengers Back

Jeremy Renner Says Robert Downey Jr. Kept His Marvel Return a Secret From the Original ‘Avengers’ Cast: ‘The Son of a B—- Didn’t Say Anything!’

Dissatisfied With Its Rate of Erosion, DVD Biz Fast-Forwards 2024 Decline

‘The Acolyte’ Is Dead: ‘Star Wars’ Series Won’t Return for Season 2

More from our brands, ‘only murders in the building’ is now only guest stars on the screen.

This Speedy 70-Foot Power Catamaran Is Designed to Cut Through Rough Waters

U.S. Open Cash Spigot Flows as USTA Turns to Investments

The Best Loofahs and Body Scrubbers, According to Dermatologists

TVLine Items: Acapulco Renewed, Joel McHale Joins Yellowjackets and More

Advertisement

Supported by

‘Butcher’s Crossing’ Review: Perilous Country

This western about the gluttony of westward expansion is saddled with a miscast Nicolas Cage.

• Share full article

By Brandon Yu

Out west is a place of freedom and lawlessness, of beauty and brutality, and, when you have no escape, of endless stretches of god’s country where one’s mind can begin to fade.

Will (Fred Hechinger), a young Harvard dropout who wants to see more of the country, learns this quickly after he sets out for the Colorado mountains with a small group of buffalo hunters in the latter half of the 19th century. Miller (Nicolas Cage), the group’s leader, takes Will under his wing as they go looking for a bounty of buffalo hide. But soon enough, they find themselves battling the elements, and what was intended as a weekslong hunt keeps them through the winter.

It’s in this stretch, about midway through, that the creeping dread that has somewhat aimlessly coursed through Gabe Polsky’s “Butcher’s Crossing” makes way for something more compelling: psychological drama built around the rotten core of the period’s insatiable westward expansion.

“We don’t belong out here,” Fred (Jeremy Bobb), a hired hand, says grimly at one point. Not on this hunt, not on the Native American burial grounds they’ve heedlessly camped out on, not out here in this land. Stubborn and rapacious, Miller keeps them there.

It’s a mostly well-crafted film with decent visual scope. The film’s greatest flaws are in Cage’s shakily written character: Stroking his shaved head like a cowboy version of Marlon Brando’s Colonel Kurtz from “Apocalypse Now,” he’s a madman that the film halfheartedly positions as an avatar for American greed. As fun as he can be to watch, Cage was the wrong actor to cast in a role that called for a more subtle, weatherworn performance. Hechinger, though, is superb, despite his thinly developed protagonist. He naturally embodies a young man who wants to truly know the country, yet shudders at the festering underside he comes to face.

Butcher’s Crossing Rated R for language, brief sexual content and some bloody violence. Running time: 1 hour 45 minutes. In theaters.

Pakistani filmmaker Saim Sadiq makes his directorial debut with “Joyland,” a picture of considerable integrity, passion, and bravery. The movie takes you into a stifling, patriarchal household in Lahore, Pakistan. While it keeps a sharp, neo-realist-influenced eye on the everyday lives of its characters, “Joyland” often gets so intimate as to discomfit the viewer to the point of exasperation. But the movie itself never judges. 

We begin with an adult man with a sheet over his head, playing hide and seek with some young girls. The man is Haider, and the girls are his nieces. His sister-in-law Nucchi is about to have a fourth child, and you know the family is hoping for a boy. They don’t get it. While Haider is at the hospital helping his brother and sister-in-law, he spies a striking woman … who looks back at him with something less than indifference. Even though he’s in Pakistan, what he’s been struck by is often called the Sicilian Thunderbolt. 

Haider at home, we learn, is generally on the ineffectual side. He stays at the claustrophobic house and looks after the cleaning and cooking, his wheelchair-bound father, Abba, and his nieces, while his wife Mumtaz is a makeup artist. Nothing in the family’s world is reliable. The power goes out at a wedding where Mumtaz is fixing up the bride, and she has to use her phone flashlight to finish the job. The butcher called by the family to slaughter a goat doesn’t show, so Abba, Haider’s Mark-Twain-lookalike father (played by venerable South Asian actor Salmaan Peerzada , here making his first screen appearance since the 1984 mini-series “The Jewel in the Crown”) orders Haider to do the deed. The quiet fellow really hates to wield that knife. 

A friend offers him a job, and it’s a doozy: as a backup dancer for an “erotic” cabaret. (Nothing too erotic about it; the dancers are all fully clothed, and their moves are only mildly racy by Western standards.) He can make 40,000 rupees a month—less than $150, folks!—doing it. The best part, arguably, is that he’ll be backing up Biba, a transgender woman who’s the same person who struck him with that thunderbolt in the hospital. (The show is near an amusement park that gives the movie its ironic title.) 

Transgender rights in Pakistan are advancing, but they’re hardly at 100 percent. And the frank and sometimes painful depiction of the shuddering romantic entanglement between Biba and Haider earned “Joyland” a temporary ban in its home country even as the movie was made Pakistan’s official entry for the 95th Academy Awards. That’s one factor that makes “Joyland” brave. Another is the commitment its performers bring to their work. As Haider, Ali Junejo physically puts across the super-tender interiority of the chronic schlemiel. As Mumtaz, the independent-minded wife suddenly tasked with bringing a boy into the family, Rasti Farooq shows a different kind of shyness, one that masks deeper troubles than she allows those closest to her to see. And as Biba, Alina Khan has an enigmatic hauteur and droll slyness, although this, too, is a character defined mainly by heartache.

“Joyland” wants to do a lot with its characters and situations, maybe too much. As the movie progresses, and the attraction between Haider and Biba grows and endangers Haider’s home life, the narrative diffuses where a viewer might expect it to tighten up. Speaking strictly for myself, this threw me off a bit. However, the movie’s unexpected coda, a flashback, pulls things together on a devastating note. 

Now playing in theaters. 

Glenn Kenny

Glenn Kenny was the chief film critic of Premiere magazine for almost half of its existence. He has written for a host of other publications and resides in Brooklyn. Read his answers to our Movie Love Questionnaire here .

• Ali Junejo as Haider
• Rasti Farooq as Mumtaz
• Alina Khan as Biba
• Sarwat Gilani as Nucchi
• Salmaan Peerzada as Father
• Sohail Sameer as Saleem
• Sania Saeed as Fayyaz
• Ramiz Law as Qaiser
• Jasmin Tenucci

Cinematographer

Leave a comment, now playing.

You Gotta Believe

The Becomers

The Supremes at Earl’s All-You-Can-Eat

Between the Temples

Blink Twice

Strange Darling

Close Your Eyes

Latest articles.

Prime Video’s “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” is the Boldest Fantasy Show of the Year

“EA Sports College Football 25” is a True Sports Game Phenomenon

Venice Film Festival 2024: Prepping for the Biennale

Locarno Film Festival 2024: Wrap-Up of a Special Event

The best movie reviews, in your inbox.

The Definitive Voice of Entertainment News

Subscribe for full access to The Hollywood Reporter

site categories

‘butcher’s crossing’ review: nicolas cage goes buffalo hunting in a bleak, listless western.

Cage plays a seasoned buffalo hunter and costar Fred Hechinger a younger cowboy who looks up to him in Gabe Polsky's film.

By John DeFore

John DeFore

• Share on Facebook
• Share to Flipboard
• Send an Email
• Show additional share options
• Share on LinkedIn
• Share on Pinterest
• Share on Reddit
• Share on Tumblr
• Share on Whats App
• Print the Article
• Post a Comment

Related Stories

Denis villeneuve to host 'dune' double-header at toronto film festival, angelina jolie to receive tribute award at the toronto film festival, butcher's crossing.

Hechinger’s Will Andrews shows up in Kansas in 1874, seeking out a buffalo-hide trader (McDonald, played by Sound of Metal ‘s Paul Raci) his father once did a favor for. The youngster hopes McDonald will introduce him to a hunter, but the grouchy, impatient dealer has other ideas about how to return the favor: Give up this idea, he says; this life is a sickness that ruins men.

Persisting, Will hooks up with Cage’s Miller, whose gruffness eases when he realizes Will might put money where his curiosity is. Glowering under a shaved scalp and a massive buffalo coat, he winds up offering to let Will fund an expedition in search of the “biggest haul” of animals anyone here has seen. As the men discuss hiring a crew, and a pretty prostitute acquaintance of Miller’s (Rachel Keller) sidles up to the boy admiringly, you can practically hear the fingers sliding into Will’s pocket to rob him blind.

It’s an arduous trip, but this is no epic, and Polsky doesn’t invest the time to really make us feel what the men endure. They nearly die of thirst, they witness what local tribes have done to white men who came before them, and then they find it: a huge herd whose hides are healthier than they’re used to seeing, all gathered in a valley where they’ll be easy to pick off. Easy, that is, if your spirit can take sitting quietly for hours, pumping one rifle shot after another at beasts who could kill you instead if the idea occurred to them. (Stomach-turning long shots show fields littered with mutilated buffalo, lying to rot after Fred gets their skins off.)

It takes an astonishingly long time, and the dollar signs in their eyes don’t keep the men from growing impatient and angry with each other. If there were hints of a Heart of Darkness vibe to Miller, who keeps his scalp Kurtz-like with a giant Bowie knife, they manifest more fully now: Long, long after they’ve gathered more hides than they can transport, Miller keeps shooting, insisting on completely erasing this herd. By the time his men might be ready to abandon him, it’s too late. Winter falls, closing the pass out of these mountains and forcing the hunting party to hunker down for months.

Though Will was “young and soft” when he arrived, Hechinger hardens as the film moves through winter, his opaque expression forcing us to imagine what lessons this experience is teaching him. This could be the origin story of a cynical, soul-dead cattle baron, or it could be a blip of youthful recklessness for a man who’ll go back east and practice law. One thing’s fairly certain: Whatever these hunters get paid, it won’t be worth it.

Full credits

Thr newsletters.

Sign up for THR news straight to your inbox every day

More from The Hollywood Reporter

Raw talent, method intensity and surprise compliments: ‘1992’ cast remembers ray liotta, sigourney weaver tears up pondering legacy of ‘alien’s’ ripley and the rise of kamala harris, winona ryder on returning for ‘beetlejuice 2’: “one of the more special experiences of my life”, tim burton says he “was a little bit lost” before returning to his roots with ‘beetlejuice beetlejuice’, rebecca ferguson joins andrew garfield, claire foy, nicola coughlan in ‘the magic faraway tree’, michael mann makes surprise appearance at sold-out screening of ‘miami vice’ in los angeles.

Log in or sign up for Rotten Tomatoes

Trouble logging in?

By continuing, you agree to the Privacy Policy and the Terms and Policies , and to receive email from the Fandango Media Brands .

By creating an account, you agree to the Privacy Policy and the Terms and Policies , and to receive email from Rotten Tomatoes and to receive email from the Fandango Media Brands .

By creating an account, you agree to the Privacy Policy and the Terms and Policies , and to receive email from Rotten Tomatoes.

Email not verified

Let's keep in touch.

Sign up for the Rotten Tomatoes newsletter to get weekly updates on:

• Upcoming Movies and TV shows
• Rotten Tomatoes Podcast
• Media News + More

By clicking "Sign Me Up," you are agreeing to receive occasional emails and communications from Fandango Media (Fandango, Vudu, and Rotten Tomatoes) and consenting to Fandango's Privacy Policy and Terms and Policies . Please allow 10 business days for your account to reflect your preferences.

OK, got it!

• About Rotten Tomatoes®
• Login/signup

Movies in theaters

• Opening this week
• Top box office
• Coming soon to theaters
• Certified fresh movies

Movies at home

• Fandango at Home
• Prime Video
• Most Popular Streaming Movies
• Certified Fresh Movies
• What to Watch New

Certified fresh picks

• 74% Blink Twice Link to Blink Twice
• 96% Strange Darling Link to Strange Darling
• 86% Between the Temples Link to Between the Temples

New TV Tonight

• 98% Only Murders in the Building: Season 4
• 80% City of God: The Fight Rages On: Season 1
• 79% The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power: Season 2
• -- Kaos: Season 1
• -- Here Come the Irish: Season 1
• -- Terminator Zero: Season 1
• -- Horror's Greatest: Season 1
• -- After Baywatch: Moment in the Sun: Season 1

Most Popular TV on RT

• 100% Dark Winds: Season 2
• 92% Bad Monkey: Season 1
• 100% Pachinko: Season 2
• 96% Industry: Season 3
• 33% The Accident: Season 1
• 78% The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power: Season 2
• 78% Star Wars: The Acolyte: Season 1
• Best TV Shows
• Most Popular TV
• TV & Streaming News

Certified fresh pick

• 98% Only Murders in the Building: Season 4 Link to Only Murders in the Building: Season 4
• All-Time Lists
• Binge Guide
• Comics on TV
• Five Favorite Films
• Video Interviews
• Weekend Box Office
• Weekly Ketchup
• What to Watch

Disney: 100 Years, 100 Essential Movies

Best Horror Movies of 2024 Ranked – New Scary Movies to Watch

What to Watch: In Theaters and On Streaming

Awards Tour

2024 Fall Horror Preview

The Most Anticipated Movies of 2024

• Trending on RT
• Re-Release Calendar
• Sonic 3 Trailer
• Venice Film Festival
• Verified Hot Movies

Butcher's Crossing Reviews

Butcher’s Crossing is nothing less than a landlocked Moby Dick, a tale of obsession and madness on a sea of grass.

Full Review | Original Score: B | Apr 4, 2024

When you have Hollywood’s loosest nut at your disposal and you don’t get the most from him, well, that’s a paddlin’.

Full Review | Apr 1, 2024

It manages to hypnotise, thanks to its characters, certain visual aspects, and the performance of one Nicolas Cage, one of my favourite actors (and whose presence is invaluable in this kind of medium-sized indie film). Full review in Spanish.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | Jan 24, 2024

Butcher’s Crossing is a distillation of the myth of the American Dream, a critique that still holds true today.

Full Review | Jan 2, 2024

The even pacing might register as blandness for viewers expecting a more classic western, but those willing to embark on this journey on its own terms will be rewarded by tremendous character work and a sneakily effective thematic structure.

Full Review | Dec 9, 2023

Gabe Polsky’s adaptation of John Williams’ novel is driven by a fierce performance by Nicolas Cage as an Ahab-like hunter who’s intent on wiping out a herd of buffalo in a remote Colorado valley.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Nov 18, 2023

[Fred] Hechinger impresses as the fish out of water, but it's Cage's enigmatic steeliness that carries the film whenever the plot meanders in its attempt to deconstruct the mythology and morality of the Old West.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Nov 8, 2023

Polsky’s script and cast can’t quite match the visual clarity he gives the tale.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Nov 7, 2023

Butcher’s Crossing is a decent western, with decent performances. It’s a film that delivers what’s expected. But it could have been so much more.

Full Review | Original Score: B- | Nov 6, 2023

…has a dark style and heart-breaking sense of hard-scrabble endurance that only a real adventure can provide, and that’s largely due to Cage’s magnetic presence….

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Nov 3, 2023

Butcher’s Crossing is a simple but solid Western with beautiful locations. Cage turns in another intriguing performance to go along with his recent output, even though Miller never quite pops as much as he should.

Full Review | Original Score: 7 | Nov 2, 2023

The film doesn’t really know what it is or who it’s for.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Nov 1, 2023

Butcher’s Crossing never fully completes the psychological factor it desperately needs to connect and meet the film’s weighty themes.

Full Review | Original Score: C- | Oct 30, 2023

The man vs. nature and man vs. man themes come through in this respectable effort, but “Butcher’s Crossing” is a grim viewing experience.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Oct 27, 2023

This grim, pessimistic Western at times feels a little inert and uneven; it might have had more thrust, more madness, but it still captivates with its powerful visuals and fine performances.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Oct 26, 2023

Not at all action-packed, this is a compelling enough psychological journey that could have excelled further were it to really focus on what impact these men were having on land they did not cherish enough.

Full Review | Original Score: 6/10 | Oct 25, 2023

Polsky has great admiration for his source material and his cast, and fails them both through his attempt to give them too much dignity.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/5 | Oct 25, 2023

Fear, anxiety, and dread drive Gabe Polsky’s bleak drama which resembles the dark revisionist Westerns from the 70s and 80s, from the Eastwood films to the horror-tinged “The White Buffalo.” Solid cast with Cage delivering a low-key performance.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Oct 24, 2023

For the completists of Nicolas Cage -a captivating presence, as always- and those enamored with the natural world -vividly captured through beautiful photography- that can deal with the buffalo hunting sequences. [Full review in Spanish]

Full Review | Oct 24, 2023

The film’s hints of The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, Moby-Dick and The Old Man and the Sea lend some much-needed weight to what would otherwise be a pedestrian story of men fighting the elements and one another.

Full Review | Oct 23, 2023

Butcher's Crossing - Official Trailer

Based on the seminal novel by John Edward Williams, Gabe Polsky’s epic frontier adventure, Butcher’s Crossing, is a riveting commentary on human nature, ambition, masculinity, and man’s relationship to his natural environment. Academy Award winner Nicolas Cage (1996, Best Actor, Leaving Las Vegas) stars in a gritty story about buffalo hunters in the Old West. Will Andrews (Fred Hechinger) has left Harvard to find adventure. He teams up with Miller (Cage), a mysterious frontiersman offering an unprecedented number of buffalo pelts in a secluded valley. Their crew must survive an arduous journey where the harsh elements will test everyone’s resolve, leaving their sanity on a knife’s edge.

Did you enjoy this video?

In this video.

Where to Watch

Not yet available for streaming.

The St. Valentine's Day Massacre (1967)

Jason robards: al capone.

• Photos (11)

Photos 

Quotes 

Capone : Wanna know something Jack? I like a guy who can use his head for something beside a hatrack!

Release Dates | Official Sites | Company Credits | Filming & Production | Technical Specs

• Full Cast and Crew
• Release Dates
• Official Sites
• Company Credits
• Filming & Production
• Technical Specs
• Plot Summary
• Plot Keywords
• Parents Guide

Did You Know?

• Crazy Credits
• Alternate Versions
• Connections
• Soundtracks

Photo & Video

• Photo Gallery
• Trailers and Videos
• User Reviews
• User Ratings
• External Reviews
• Metacritic Reviews

Related Items

• External Sites

Related lists from IMDb users

Recently Viewed

‘Butcher’s Crossing’ Film Review: Nicolas Cage Goes Full Captain Ahab in Environmental Western

Toronto Film Festival 2022: Gabe Polsky’s acid Western harshly examines the effects of Manifest Destiny, capitalism and macho pride on the American landscape

Gabe Polsky’s new acid Western “Butcher’s Crossing,” premiering at the Toronto Film Festival, takes place on the vast fertile plains of hubris, where if you stare far enough into the horizon, you can probably see your own uppance come.

Based on a novel by John Williams (not that one , this one ) takes place in Kansas in 1874, where a young wide-eyed student named Will Andrews (Fred Hechinger, “Fear Street”) has abandoned his Ivy League education in favor of seeing the country and palling around with buffalo hunters. It’s a decision that old man McDonald (Paul Raci, “Sound of Metal”), a fur trader and distant friend of the family, thinks is intensely ill-advised, so he warns him — in a tone so condescending it was practically guaranteed to have the opposite of its intended effect — that following this path will lead Will to soul-obliterating ruin.

Undeterred, Will proceeds to ally himself with the first semi-friendly person he meets, a hunter named Miller (Nicolas Cage), who has a foolhardy dream of his own. At a time when buffalo hunting has been increasingly difficult, Miller claims to have found a hidden valley filled with the furry beasts. It’s so hard to find, only he can do it. And he just needs hundreds of dollars in financing.

Will agrees immediately, proving he’s really great at decision-making, and they put together a small team of ne’er-do-wells to join them. There’s Charlie Hoge (Xander Berkeley), a kindly old-timer with only one hand, and an irritable skinner named Fred Schneider (Jeremy Bobb, “South of Heaven”), who’s going to be a real pain in the saddle every step of the miserable, arid, painful way.

Trekking to Miller’s hidden valley is a descent into hell, but the thing about descents into hell is that the destination is, by definition, even worse than the journey. Miller may find his buffalo, but he’s not just obsessed with hunting game; he wants to punish them for his life’s miserable failings and to dominate the land until its lifeless corpse is his own. They stay too long, and for all the wrong reasons, and sure enough, madness seeps into their camp and makes a horrid home there.

“Butcher’s Crossing” is a bit like “The Treasure of the Sierra Madre” if, in order to claim their gold, Humphrey Bogart, Walter Huston and Tim Holt had to kill each individual nugget first. It’s a deeply unpleasant spectacle, and the profundity of their twisted plunder isn’t lost on Will Andrews. He just doesn’t have the wherewithal, the drive or the decency to do anything about it.

He may not be the protagonist, but Cage is the centerpiece. He’s disarmingly neutral when we first meet him, bald and bearded, looking very much like a young, relaxed Sid Haig . As the film proceeds, Cage transforms into a manic and terrifying Sid Haig. It would be apt, albeit a little trite, to compare Miller to Captain Ahab, leading his men to damnation in a violent attempt to lance his festering, wounded ego. It’s a characteristically wild, wholly effective performance from an actor who excels — perhaps more so than any other — at making bizarre acting decisions seem bizarrely natural.

Gabe Polsky (“Red Penguins”) has directed a severely principled Western tale with clear, to the point of being predictable and obvious, points to make about the evils of plundering the land for selfish reasons. The reasons are not limited to Manifest Destiny, capitalism and macho pride, but those are probably the big three. Polsky and his director of photography, David Gallego (“The Last Son”), paint the American frontier as a dry, soulless landscape, bleached of all its life by a greedy invasive species. When Miller and his company do reach a place full of verdant plant life and peaceful creatures, the camera lingers on each piece that they murder for their own petty gain.

“Butcher’s Crossing” is not a subtle work of cinema. Acid Westerns usually aren’t. It’s not just an unromantic view of the American West; it actively despises what Americans did to it. As the violence sets in, the film becomes indistinguishable from a bad trip. Time loses meaning, and real events can be indistinguishable from paranoid fantasies. Polsky’s film digs into the rot in his characters’ psyches for a time but gradually climbs back out again, perhaps in an attempt to put their madness in a larger context social context. But mostly the final act of the film comes across like clunky, though well-earned, moralizing.

Polsky’s film concludes with title cards about the tragedy of the American buffalo, which were hunted to near-extinction by selfish jerks just like the ones in “Butcher’s Crossing.” The film paints the buffalo as peaceful, helpless victims, and surely they were, but it’s not really their story. It’s the story of those selfish jerks getting what’s coming to them, and that’s undeniably satisfying no matter how blunt it is. And it’s plenty blunt.

“Butcher’s Crossing” makes its world premiere at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival.

Butcher's Crossing - What We Know So Far

Fans of both survival movies and Westerns that attempt to explore the harsh reality behind the mythology of the "American West" received some excellent news this year, when it was announced that Gabe Polsky ("Red Army") would be directing and co-writing a big screen adaptation of author John Williams' 1967 frontier novel, "Butcher's Crossing" (via Variety ). Since Williams' novel is far from your typical glimpse into late nineteenth century North America (think more Cormac McCarthy, and less Sergio Leone ) the film promises to be a brutalist blend of an oft-glorified but extremely ugly chapter in U.S. history, and man's capacity to survive against the awesome power of nature and isolation. 

"Butcher's Crossing" reunites Polsky with his "Red Army" co-executive producer, Liam Satre-Meloy, who'll write the screenplay alongside the director. Deadline reports that "Polsky and Phiphen Pictures' Molly Conners will produce alongside Will Clarke and Andy Mayson for Altitude Film Entertainment and Cage's Saturn Films." So, now that the behind-the-scenes ducks are all in a row, when can we expect to see this anticipated adaptation? 

What is the release date of Butcher's Crossing?

Variety announced recently that Saban Films ("Under the Stadium Lights") has officially acquired the movie, in a deal that will cover distribution rights in "North America, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Scandinavia" (Altitude will handle UK and Irish distribution). Although an official release date has yet to be announced, "Butcher's Crossing" is slated to begin shooting in the U.S. this upcoming October (via Deadline ). 

Considering the narrative's 19th-century North American frontier setting — and the fact that buffalo will need to be involved — it's likely the film will require some serious on-location shooting. The title of Williams' groundbreaking novel refers to an ominously named town (Butcher's Crossing) in Kansas, and squeezing all those wide-open spaces into a studio in southern California seems highly unlikely. Hollywood's latest sneaky semi-Western epic, " Pig ," began shooting in the fall of 2019, and was released in the summer of 2021. If its timeline is any sort of litmus test, fans could potentially expect to see "Butcher's Crossing" as early as next winter, though an early-to-mid 2023 release seems a stronger possibility. 

Who is in the cast of Butcher's Crossing?

Speaking of "Pig," fresh off the success of director Michael Sarnoski's rumored Oscar contender,  Nicolas Cage  has landed yet another intriguingly off-beat role with "Butcher's Crossing." The timing makes sense. On starring in "Pig," Cage told Vanity Fair that he saw the film as an opportunity to remind both himself and "the folks in the critical universe" that smaller, quieter dramas are "another one of (his) paintbrushes." The reminder must have worked, because director Gabe Polsky calls Cage "one of the most dynamic and interesting performers," noting that "to have him take on this brilliant role will be exciting" (via Variety ). 

Cage will play experienced buffalo hunter, Miller. 

As of this writing, Cage is the only actor to be officially named on the project, and yet, this 2017 BUILD series interview with Thomas Haden Church ("Sideways," " Wings ") suggests the actor and director may still be attached to the film. In the interview, Church talks at-length about Williams' novel, and its poignant de-romanticization of late eighteen hundreds America. 

Currently, no outlet has released any official statements naming Church as a part of the "Butcher's Crossing" cast, but he'd certainly have no problem slipping into the role of the novel's gritty frontiersman Charley Hoge, or even that of the trader and financier J.D. McDonald. 

What is the plot of Butcher's Crossing?

While it's too soon to definitively say if Gabe Polsky's adaptation of Williams' novel will be completely faithful to its source, the current "Butcher's Crossing" synopsis suggests that's the case.  Variety reports that the new movie is "set in the 1870s, and finds Cage's character taking on a young Harvard dropout, who is seeking his destiny in the Colorado wilderness. Together, they embark on a harrowing journey risking life and sanity." 

Per  Goodreads , "Butcher's Crossing" follows a young, East Coast academic named William Andrews, who, "fired up by Emerson to seek 'an original relation to nature,' drops out of Harvard and heads west." After finding himself in the small town of Butcher's Crossing, Will meets a veteran frontiersman who convinces him to go on a hunt for buffalo in the previously untapped territory of Colorado. At first, the men find themselves caught up feverishly in the so-called thrill of kill, but as winter sets in — and with it, a brutal reality that tests the men's wills — the world around them grows increasingly dark. After being snowed-in for the entirety of winter, the desperate group emerges the following spring "half-insane with cabin fever, cold, and hunger,"  before eventually making their way back to Butcher's Crossing, where they "find a world as irremediably changed as they have been."

On the surface, "Butcher's Crossing" sounds like a blend of Western adventure and a good old fashioned man vs. nature survival story. Thematically, however, Williams' novel seeks to pit starry-eyed Transcendentalism against a harsh Realism, culminating in a battle that the experienced Cage has proven himself more than capable of slowly teasing out.

Common Sense Media

Movie & TV reviews for parents

• For Parents
• For Educators
• Our Work and Impact

Or browse by category:

• Movie Reviews
• Best Movie Lists
• Best Movies on Netflix, Disney+, and More

Common Sense Selections for Movies

50 Modern Movies All Kids Should Watch Before They're 12

• Best TV Lists
• Best TV Shows on Netflix, Disney+, and More
• Common Sense Selections for TV
• Video Reviews of TV Shows

Best Kids' Shows on Disney+

Best Kids' TV Shows on Netflix

• Book Reviews
• Best Book Lists
• Common Sense Selections for Books

8 Tips for Getting Kids Hooked on Books

50 Books All Kids Should Read Before They're 12

• Game Reviews
• Best Game Lists

Common Sense Selections for Games

• Video Reviews of Games

Nintendo Switch Games for Family Fun

• Podcast Reviews
• Best Podcast Lists

Common Sense Selections for Podcasts

Parents' Guide to Podcasts

• App Reviews
• Best App Lists

Social Networking for Teens

Gun-Free Action Game Apps

Reviews for AI Apps and Tools

• YouTube Channel Reviews
• YouTube Kids Channels by Topic

Parents' Ultimate Guide to YouTube Kids

YouTube Kids Channels for Gamers

• Preschoolers (2-4)
• Little Kids (5-7)
• Big Kids (8-9)
• Pre-Teens (10-12)
• Teens (13+)
• Screen Time
• Social Media
• Online Safety
• Identity and Community

How to Help Kids Build Character Strengths with Quality Media

• Family Tech Planners
• Digital Skills
• All Articles
• Latino Culture
• Black Voices
• Asian Stories
• Native Narratives
• LGBTQ+ Pride
• Best of Diverse Representation List

Multicultural Books

YouTube Channels with Diverse Representations

Podcasts with Diverse Characters and Stories

Butcher's crossing.

• Common Sense Says
• Parents Say 0 Reviews
• Kids Say 1 Review

Common Sense Media Review

Violence, slaughter of animals in downbeat Western.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that Butcher's Crossing is an uneven but compelling Western about an inexperienced young man (Fred Hechinger) who joins forces with an obsessive hunter (Nicolas Cage) for a massive buffalo hunt, which eventually turns brutal and tragic. Though no real animals were harmed to make the film,…

Why Age 16+?

Hundreds of buffalo are shot and killed. People shown skinning buffalo, with som

Many uses of "goddamn," plus "f--k," "bulls--t," "s--t," "c--ksucker," "son of a

Brief sexual fantasy of a woman moaning while a man thrusts behind her. A sex wo

Characters frequently slug or gulp whiskey from bottles. Smoking.

Any Positive Content?

Strong message about the negative aspects of obsession and greed and the sensele

The movie's focus is entirely on White men; the only major female character is a

The characters who disagree with Miller's obsessive buffalo killing eventually w

Violence & Scariness

Hundreds of buffalo are shot and killed. People shown skinning buffalo, with some gore, guts, blood. One character beats another to death, punching him again and again and bloodying his face. Person lying in grave. Guns and shooting, threatening with guns. Threatening with knife. Character run over by horse. People's clothing, arms, hands covered in blood. Field of bloody corpses. Brief severed testicles. Dead animal corpses. Stagecoach crunches over animal skulls. Coach falls over cliff with a person aboard; he's presumably killed. Hallucination/nightmare sequences. Attempted poisoning: A person's stomach makes gurgling, farting noises. Historical photos depict real buffalo skulls, hides, and more.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Many uses of "goddamn," plus "f--k," "bulls--t," "s--t," "c--ksucker," "son of a bitch," "whore," "bastard," "ass," "balls," "piss," "pecker," "damn," "Christ" (as an exclamation), "hell," "piece-a-tail."

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

Brief sexual fantasy of a woman moaning while a man thrusts behind her. A sex worker tries to seduce the main character (she touches him sensually), but he stops her. Crude sex-related dialogue.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Positive Messages

Strong message about the negative aspects of obsession and greed and the senseless killing of animals in numbers far more than anyone can use. Hubris is punished. A text crawl at the end tells viewers that there were once 60 million buffalo, but that number dwindled to less than 300 by the year 1880 due to hunters. It's now back up to around 30,000, thanks to efforts of the Blackfeet Nation in Montana.

Diverse Representations

The movie's focus is entirely on White men; the only major female character is a sex worker at a saloon. But while they're never represented on-screen, the movie is dedicated to the people of the Blackfeet Nation, whose efforts to preserve buffalo are commendable. They are the true heroes of the story, while White people are portrayed as villains and/or victims.

Did we miss something on diversity? Suggest an update.

Positive Role Models

The characters who disagree with Miller's obsessive buffalo killing eventually wind up going along with the plan anyway. Even the tenderfoot Will, who goes into the enterprise with the best intentions, is corrupted along the way.

Parents need to know that Butcher's Crossing is an uneven but compelling Western about an inexperienced young man (Fred Hechinger) who joins forces with an obsessive hunter ( Nicolas Cage ) for a massive buffalo hunt, which eventually turns brutal and tragic. Though no real animals were harmed to make the film, there's footage of faux dead animals that includes entrails and lots of blood. There are also guns and shooting, deaths, someone getting beaten to death, gory dead bodies (one with severed testicles), threats, and more. Strong language includes uses of "f--k," "s--t," "c---sucker," "goddamn," "bitch," "whore," "pecker," and more, as well as crude, sex-related dialogue. A brief, partly seen sex scene (with no explicit nudity)shows a man thrusting behind a woman, and a sex worker tries to seduce a young man, but he stops her. Characters frequently slug or gulp whiskey from bottles, and there's some smoking. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

Where to Watch

Videos and photos.

Parent and Kid Reviews

• Parents say
• Kids say (1)

There aren't any parent reviews yet. Be the first to review this title.

What's the Story?

In BUTCHER'S CROSSING, it's 1874, and college student Will Andrews (Fred Hechinger) walks away from Harvard to learn a little about what real life is like. He heads to Kansas, where he finds an old family acquaintance, buffalo hide merchant McDonald ( Paul Raci ). McDonald sends Will away, but he soon meets hunter Miller ( Nicolas Cage ). Miller knows a place in the Colorado mountains where thousands of buffalo roam, but he needs a stake. Thus Will finds himself financing a trip and coming along for the ride. They're accompanied by skinner Fred ( Jeremy Bobb ) and Charlie ( Xander Berkeley ), who drives the coach. The team finds Miller's secret spot, but Miller becomes obsessed with shooting as many buffalo as possible, keeping the men there longer than expected. When a winter storm hits, their only way out is blocked. Now, in addition to frayed nerves, tensions, and tempers, the men must survive for months in the freezing cold before cashing in their bounty.

Is It Any Good?

This grim, pessimistic Western at times feels a little inert and uneven; it might have had more thrust, more madness, but it still captivates with its powerful visuals and fine performances. Based on a 1960 novel by John Williams (a contemporary of Cormac McCarthy's), Butcher's Crossing has a Moby Dick -like setup, with an Ishmael and an obsessed Captain Ahab, but director Gabe Polsky -- mainly a maker of documentaries -- can't seem to give the film the epic heft it could have used. Inexperienced Will largely becomes a passive observer in his own story, while Miller's motivations and behaviors are somewhat cloudy. Cage can't quite get a handle on the character, and he doesn't seem to know when to go "full Cage" or rein it in. (Although he does specifically recall Marlon Brando in Apocalypse Now , either when scraping his bald dome with a razor or thoughtfully running a bare hand over it.)

But through it all are both awesome images of the buffalo (the movie was shot in Montana, where the Blackfeet Nation works to preserve the animals' numbers) and the sickening spectacle of their slaughter. There's the snowbound landscape, with all of its beauties and miseries. And there's the presence of great character actor Jeremy Bobb as wild card Fred, who's forever keeping the others on their toes. In other words, there's a rawness to Butcher's Crossing that keeps it interesting, even if it misses its chance at greatness.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about Butcher's Crossing 's violence . How did it make you feel? Was it exciting? Shocking? What did the movie show or not show to achieve this effect? Why is that important?

Why is it problematic that certain animals are hunted to/almost to extinction? Why is it important to preserve the buffalo?

Whose experiences aren't represented in this film? How does that affect its message/impact?

What's the appeal of the Western genre? From these stories, what can we learn about ourselves today?

Movie Details

• In theaters : October 20, 2023
• On DVD or streaming : December 19, 2023
• Cast : Nicolas Cage , Fred Hechinger , Jeremy Bobb
• Director : Gabe Polsky
• Studio : Saban Films
• Genre : Western
• Run time : 108 minutes
• MPAA rating : R
• MPAA explanation : language, some violence/bloody images and brief sexual content
• Last updated : March 30, 2024

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

Suggest an Update

What to watch next.

The Revenant

Dances with Wolves

The Homesman

Westerns for kids and teens, best action movies for kids.

Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.

Buther’s Crossing: Is There Any Truth Behind Nicolas Cage’s Movie?

Directed by Gabe Polsky, ‘Butcher’s Crossing’ is a Western drama  featuring the likes of Nicolas Cage , Jeff Medley, and more. Set against the backdrop of the late 19th century, ‘Butcher’s Crossing’ recounts the journey of Will Andrews, a bored Harvard student, to the little community of Butcher’s Crossing. To satisfy his need for excitement and financial gain, he signs up for a buffalo hunting trip. 

Through it all, the crew must grapple with the ethical dilemmas of their actions as they encounter life-threatening obstacles in the harsh environment of their unrelenting buffalo hunt. Unfortunately, when they return to the Butcher’s Crossing with their buffalo skins, they find the market has shifted. The movie explores ideas of disillusionment, greed, and the collision between human ambitions and the indifference of nature. This film deftly dissects the romanticization and the harsh reality of the American frontier. Given the film’s analysis of realistic themes, one might wonder if ‘Butcher’s Crossing’ is based on real events. Here are the facts.

Is Butcher’s Crossing a True Story?

No, Butcher’s Crossing is not based on a true story. Instead, the movie draws inspiration from John Edward Williams’ best-selling Western fiction novel of the same name. However, this by Gabe Polsky-directed Western fiction does take some creative liberty for dramatization. Gabe Polsky is a well-known name in the industry, hailed for directing highly successful movies like ‘Red Army,’ ‘In Search of Greatness,’ ‘The Motel Life,’ and more. In addition, Gabe Polsky is also credited for penning the screenplay alongside Liam Satre-Meloy and John Williams. 

When asked about his decision to adapt John Edward Williams’ novel for the silver screen, Polsky stated that the themes of the story resonated deeply with him, presenting a fundamental exploration of life’s meaning and purpose, as well as a curiosity about human nature, ego, and the driving forces behind our actions. The story of what happened to the buffalo remained largely untold in film, and Polsky had a great affection for the outdoors and the mountains. However, it was primarily the narrative’s ability to encapsulate the universal human journey that drew him in. From an initial state of naivety and romanticism to the sobering experiences and choices one makes along the way, Polsky found it to be a beautifully tragic story.

The movie is littered with heavy themes like man vs. nature, corruption, idealism, loneliness, and more. The protagonists in the movies are led by their desire for riches to go on a buffalo hunting trip, which provides the setting for the movie’s examination of greed. Furthermore, when they’re busy killing animals for their own financial gain, the movie brilliantly explores the ethical conundrums they encounter.

The idea of man’s fight against nature is brought to the forefront by the trip that Will Andrews (Fred Hechinger) and his friends take into the wilderness. In the course of their struggle to triumph against nature, the protagonists in the movie go through a variety of arduous experiences, both physically and emotionally. The decisions they make show how they have grown and how they have persevered despite their circumstances.

What separates ‘Butcher’s Crossing’ from the rest of its herd is its exploration of “The Myth of the Frontier” via the eyes of Will Andrews. The movie’s protagonist, Will Andrews, is a great representation of this idea. He’s a young man from Boston’s upper class who decides to forgo his Harvard education in favor of a life on the frontier. His motivation stems from idealistic Western stereotypes that paint the region as a haven for risk-taking and self-discovery. Will’s willingness to leave behind his easy life in the East and make the difficult trek to Butcher’s Crossing is reminiscent of the mythic appeal of the frontier.

Therefore, ‘Butcher’s Crossing’ is not rooted in reality but deals with many realistic themes associated with the Wild Wide West. ‘Butcher’s Crossing’ delves into the pointlessness of human effort in the face of immense, unstoppable forces. Especially in a setting where existence is precarious, the character’s experiences and acts prompt philosophical reflection on the meaning and value of life.

Read More: Best Western Movies on Netflix 

SPONSORED LINKS

• Movie Explainers
• TV Explainers

Apple Pay Wednesday

Today only! Save $5 off your order with Apple Pay.

Special offer.

Buy a ticket to Usher: Rendezvous in Paris for a chance to win an Usher concert experience for 2!

Buy a Ticket, Save over 50% off on Transformers double feature to watch at home.

Get Deadpool's Premium Package Today!

Get Deadpool's Premium Package - Includes 2 tickets to Deadpool & Wolverine, the Official Best Friends Necklaces, and more

Get two tickets to see Ryan's World The Movie: Titan Universe Adventure, a mystery toy, and more!

Fandango offer: gift, give or receive a ticket to the forge.

Buy a ticket for yourself and everyone else you want to share the movie with through The Kingdom Builders Gifted Ticket Program.

Rediscover the magic of hogwarts.

Double FanRewards Points on Kid's Movies

ButcherCrowd

801 reviews

So satisfied so glad I found these guys!

Amazing quality

Love Butcher Crowd

Great fresh food

Halal or not?

Hi templeofthegodsband - Our meat is not currently classified as Halal but thank you for your review. We can't locate you in our customer accounts but encourage you to reach out to us at support@butch ... Read more

Excellent and very good meat

Great menu selection

Excellent food and service

Supporting our farmers

high quality

Excellent quality meat for a reasonable price

Thank you ButcherCrowd!

Questions & Answers

I require bacon with no added sugar, or chemicals for epileptic on keto. Can you help?

Good morning Helen, Thanks for reaching out to us. All our products are gluten-free and free from preservatives and nitrates.

Nitrate Free (Sugar-free) Smoked Bacon: Australian Pork, Salt, Natural Wh ... Read more

Thank you I’ve ordered stacks

hi , would like a complete list with pricing please. regards ken .

Hi, would like item list with pricing please.

Hi Ken, Thank you for getting in touch and for your interest in ButcherCrowd. Basically, we offer 2 types of boxes – with the most popular being our Custom box. Our boxes are for a fixed price with fr ... Read more

Ken here is a little more information on how our orders and products work: external link  

Is there anywhere that shows exactly what is in my order. I just ordered for the first time and very curious as to what I'm getting. I love all the great reviews.

Hi Kerry, I'm so sorry that it's taken so long to answer you as I just noticed this now. We can send you by email an itemized list anytime, just reach out to us if needed. Our new website will have th ... Read more

Contact info for ButcherCrowd

• ABN : 67651321498

Extra Information

Compare best food & drink shops.

ProductReview.com.au has affiliate partnerships. These do not influence our content moderation policies in any way, though ProductReview.com.au may earn commissions for products/services purchased via affiliate links.