8 Best Western Movies & TV Series of the Last Decade, Ranked by Rotten Tomatoes
From dark neo-westerns to sweeping TV sagas.
From cowboy hats and horseback rides to sunset shootouts and irreconcilable confrontations between law and lawlessness, the Western genre remains one of the most epic in cinema.
However, over the past decade, the genre has experienced a rebirth, moving away from past stereotypes in favor of greater depth, narrative diversity, and complex moral dilemmas.
8. 'Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1', 2024
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 51%
Hayes Ellison is a world-weary cowboy longing to hang up his revolver. However, fate has other plans for him.
Colonists are waging a bloody war against the indigenous population, and Ellison finds himself drawn into the conflict when he rescues a courtesan carrying a baby.
Horizon is an old-fashioned movie, but fans of classic Westerns need not worry. Kevin Costner has remained true to himself, making a film for fans of the genre who prefer the old school.
7. 'Damsel', 2018
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 67%
In the classic Western, a woman was merely a pretext for heroism, existing only to serve the man at the center of the story. Femininity symbolized harmony, family, and the patriarchal order – all of which needed protection.
Guided by these principles, Robert Pattinson's character sets out to rescue his "damsel," played by Mia Wasikowska, from villains.
Upon reaching his destination, however, he is surprised to learn that she doesn't actually need help. It's he who needs saving.
6. 'Eddington', 2025
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 68%
Spring 2020, the height of the global pandemic. The tiny town of Eddington, New Mexico, is no exception. However, the local sheriff isn't convinced by the dire news and doctors' prognoses.
The police officer isn't wearing a mask and is assuring everyone that the risk of infection is minimal. The mayor, who is promoting self-isolation and running for a second term, isn't happy with the officer's behavior.
The relationship between the two men is far from ideal. The sheriff's wife had a previous relationship with the mayor, so their rivalry has become both political and personal.
5. 'American Primeval', 2025
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 72%
The Netflix show is based on the events that took place in Utah in 1857 and are known as the Mountain Meadows Massacre. Over the course of several days, Mormon police attacked pioneers traveling from Arkansas to California.
The armed aggressors hid their faces behind hoods, leading many to believe that Native Americans were responsible for the attack. Sara and her son, Devin, nearly died during the bloody raid.
They were saved from certain death by a cowboy named Isaac. He volunteered to help the woman and child reach Utah.
4. 'The English', 2022
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 84%
Lady Cornelia Locke, an aristocratic Englishwoman, sets out for the Wild West to find her son's killer and exact revenge. Aiding her in this difficult mission is Eli Whipp, a Native American former scout.
Despite the brutality surrounding Locke and Whipp, tender feelings gradually blossom between them.
However, don't let romance deter you. The English is a gritty show with a strong focus on large-scale battle scenes.
3. 'The Dead Don't Hurt', 2023
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 86%
The Dead Don't Hurt was Viggo Mortensen's second directorial project. The actor created a lyrical Western centered on the relationship between a strict carpenter and a rebellious aristocrat.
Against all odds, the two fell in love, married, and moved into a modest house in the countryside. However, their bliss was short-lived. The Civil War broke out and the husband was forced to leave home and go to the front.
His wife had no choice but to wait for him and wage a daily battle for survival despite being far from the war zones.
2. 'The Harder They Fall', 2021
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 88%
Nat Love is an orphan whose parents were murdered by the ruthless Rufus Buck. Love spent years hunting the criminal, but to no avail.
Justice was served when the killer was sentenced to life in prison. Years later, Love received news that the government had pardoned Buck, granting him his freedom.
Armed to the teeth, Love sets out to find his nemesis, who has settled in a tiny town with his henchmen.
1. 'Bone Tomahawk', 2015
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 91%
The residents of a small town live in an atmosphere of fear after a tribe of cannibalistic Indians was discovered in their area. Sheriff Hunt, 71-year-old Chicory, Arthur O'Dwyer, a cowboy and family man, and John, one of the town's most enigmatic residents, set out to hunt them down.
In the century-long history of the genre, almost no one has succeeded in seamlessly blending horror with Western films. S. Craig Zahler is one of the few who has done so.
Bone Tomahawk takes the typical cowboy movie formula, a long journey, and suddenly strikes with uncompromising violence and cruelty after a lengthy and leisurely buildup, sparing neither the audience nor the characters.
