The idea of American Individualism is a fascinating way in which an entire populace has recontextualized selfish and detrimental behavior into something to be sought after. Impressively, the arrogance of the U.S. is a key component in western thriller Frontier Crucible, directed by Travis Mills (Texas Red) and adapted by S. Craig Zahler (Bone Tomahawk; Brawl in Cell Block 99), a tale that pits several disparate individuals against each other with the looming threat of attacks by members of the Apache tribe in the background due to arrogant transgressions by said individuals. The film aspires to slowly raise tensions until they boil over, but things are too neat, too clean, and too predictable for the anticipated thrills to be found or felt.
William H. Macy as Major O’Rourke in the western/thriller/drama film, FRONTIER CRUCIBLE, a Well Go USA film. Photo courtesy of Well Go USA.
Hired by the U.S. military to transport medicine through Apache territory to a colonial city in need, Merrick Beckford (Myles Clohessy) decides to stop his wagon to assist a small group who had been attacked with one member being dangerously wounded. As he tries to help, three of the men continuously try to convince Beckford to change direction and head north, setting into motion a calculated battle of wits between Beckford and all five for control. As if this wasn’t bad enough, when one of them kills an Apache scout, a tenuous pact forms to try to avoid retaliation, but the greed of humanity is predictable and no peace lasts forever.
L-R: Myles Clohessry as Merrick Beckford, Eli Brown as Jeff Butler, and Mary Stickley as Valerie Butler in the western/thriller/drama film, FRONTIER CRUCIBLE, a Well Go USA film. Photo courtesy of Well Go USA.
Based on the 1961 Harry Whittington novel Desert Stake-Out, Frontier Crucible has all the hallmarks of a Zahler tale: cold men, life or death decisions, violent acts, and consequences. The cold open establishes both the territory (Arizona) and time period (1874) and then we witness a terrible expression of violence without explanation or understanding. In truth, the film doesn’t wholly flush out the “why,” but it’s unnecessary within the larger scope of the tale as the relevance only matters when the mystery is what drives a tale and, here, there’s no mystery. There’s no question, no subtextual push, that drives anything within Frontier Crucible. All is as clear as day, which defuses a great deal of tension relative to mystery, requiring the film to find a different way to hook its audience. Here, the hook is through the characters who largely understand that everyone is hiding something and that, for a time, shared strength is the key to their survival. On the one hand, this shifts expectation, infusing the whole of the film with a sensation of waiting for the inevitable explosion a ticking time bomb without a clock display. However, on the other, this requires the performers to present their characters in such a way that they make us want to lean in to what they’re doing, and not all of the actors are capable enough to do so.
Thomas Jane as ‘Mule’ Charlie McKee in the western/thriller/drama film, FRONTIER CRUCIBLE, a Well Go USA film. Photo courtesy of Well Go USA.
The absolute best part of Frontier Crucible is the performance that Thomas Jane gives as Mule, the elder stateman of the three man-team that Beckford happens across, alongside a married couple (one of whom is severely wounded). Jane’s been working for some time now with leading performances in features such as Punisher (2004) and The Mist (2007) and scene-stealing performances in films like Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010). Here, he offers a true character performance wherein Jane disappears in Mule, providing weight and pathos to what could be an otherwise unremarkable character who flimsily holds on to control of his team, which includes his son, the slightly slimy Billy (Ryan Masson), and violence-first Edmund (Arnie Hammer). Jane’s performance truly makes the film watchable because he inserts energy where the rest either evoke an almost stoic earnestness (Clohessy) or give a sense of stating lines instead of delivering them (newcomer Mary Stickley). It’s not that Masson, Clohessy, or Stickley don’t earn their keep, as it were, it’s just that Jane seems to be in a better, more engaged film compared to the others. To a degree, there’s contextual reasoning for Clohessy as Beckford’s quiet delivery, Masson as Billy’s one-note over-eagerness, and Stickley as Valerie’s seeming over-her-head stiffness, yet, due to the lack of modulation in favor of flatline delivery, it’s difficult to find a reason to lock in. It doesn’t help that the structure of the narrative is such that we, the audience, have a great deal figured out (just as Beckford does), which, rather than adding heat and pressure to the boiling pot, we are waiting for the moment when calamity forces confrontation.
L-R: Ryan Masson as Billy McKee and Armie Hammer as Edmund Fisher in the western/thriller/drama film, FRONTIER CRUCIBLE, a Well Go USA film. Photo courtesy of Well Go USA.
Between the lovely cinematography from Maxime Alexandre (Shazam!; The Nun) that accentuates the geography in such a way as to convey the isolation and rising intensity of the characters’ situation, Jane’s performance, and the few actual surprises through the tale, one certainly won’t regret the watch entirely. It is troublesome how predictable a few moments are and how strangely clean several characters are as travelers on the range (though that may be a stylistic choice to set apart the humane from the violence-prone), but if you are looking for violence, even in fits and spurts, you’ll get what you pay for. The frontier was a dangerous place and, at the very least, what this film gets right is that the less honorable you are, the less likely you are to survive.
In theaters and on VOD December 5th, 2025.
For more information, head to the official Well Go USA Frontier Crucible webpage.
Final Score: 2.5 out of 5.
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Categories: In Theaters, Reviews, streaming
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