The modern day Western series BRING ON THE DANCING HORSES makes a strong splash at this year's Sundance Film Festival. Kate Bosworth leads the series as a woman with no name, arriving at locations telling marked people that she's "Here to help with your transition." And that transition is from life to death. Bosworth is a killer, wearing a ten gallon hat and a deep, unaffected monotone. She has a list to complete and she's going at them one by one. We don't yet get much information about the assassin (only one episode is being screened at Sundance, though nine more are filmed and ready to go) but there are slivers of information here and there. It seems personal and she is more than capable of handling anyone coming her way.
The pilot, written and directed by the show creator Michael Polish, pulls the audience into its intriguing story right away, and sets up the series with a great start. Bosworth is a stellar lead, intriguing and dangerous. She holds a mystery about her and pulls off the mysterious and badass qualities equally and easily. Lance Henriksen shows up in the pilot as one of her marks and their scenes in particular are sharp and have a fascinating pulse to them. Near the end of the episode there's what seems like a bit of a time jump and it's the only part of the episode that seems to not land great. However, once the rest of the series is in place, my opinion of that could completely change. Overall, BRING ON THE DANCING HORSES is a sure fire treat and I'm fully on board to see where the story goes from here.
GRADE: A-
CREATED, WRITTEN & DIRECTED BY Michael Polish STARRING Kate Bosworth, Jasper Polish, Lance Henriksen, Happy Anderson, DJ Qualls, Thomas Francis Murphy. FEATURED AS PART OF THE 2022 SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL. FOR MORE INFO: BRING ON THE DANCING HORSES