Surrounded

Five years after the Civil War, Moses "Mo" Washington, a former soldier and deadly with a pistol, travels west disguised as a man. When her stagecoach is ambushed, Mo must stand watch over a dangerous outlaw while the others go for help, all while the outlaw’s gang draws closer, looking to free their captured friend.

In an unintended continuing theme with my last two reviews (Jethica and Sisu), Surrounded is both set in New Mexico AND it features a variation of the Man With No Name trope.

Full circle!

Anyway, this a modern day telling of a classic Western idea, with all the stunning vistas, lonely landscapes, and echoing gunfights you could ask for. As a Man With No Name, Mo is also a Person of Few Words, but that taciturn nature ends up only giving her less chances to develop an actual character then the loquacious white male outlaw who she spends most of her time with (an additional but unfortunate continuation of theme with my previous review Jethica). But… she does strike a hell of an iconic figure, an alley cat thin silhouette in a wide-brimmed cowboy hat pulled low, a lean drink of water with a big ol’ Remington Model 1858 on her hip that she pulls fast as lightning.

So the style is definitely there.

The film touches on the racism and misogyny that was an everyday part of society at the time—and still is—but it’s more a feature of the era rather than a pointed message for today’s audience, which is an approach I’m actually kind of fine with. It’s a fact of life in America, and Women and People of Color, and Women of Color specifically in this case, have to figure out how to navigate that fact as best they can.

The pacing sputters a bit as the film goes on, but to be fair, that might just be me, as I was expecting more of a siege situation from the description, and that’s not what the film is. There’s also quite a bit of heavy-handed monologuing at times, which makes the film feel more like a stage play at times, especially as Mo and the Outlaw sit around the light of the campfire with darkness pushing in on all sides.

But the fights? The fights are well done, brutal and full of splatter, especially one where Mo is facing three Comanche warriors all by her lonesome. Good stuff. Plus, there are a couple of scenes of legitimate tension too, especially when Michael K. Williams shows up (in his last role), bringing with him all of his considerable power and charisma.

All in all… Surrounded is a decent little Western, and worth checking out.