''Butcher's Crossing'' is a 2023 American

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

film directed by Gabe Polsky in his narrative feature film debut, based on the 1960 novel by

John Edward Williams John Edward Williams (August 29, 1922 – March 3, 1994) was an American author, editor and professor. He was best known for his novels ''Butcher's Crossing'' (1960), ''Stoner (novel), Stoner'' (1965), and ''Augustus (Williams novel), Augustus' ...

. It stars

Nicolas Cage Nicolas Kim Coppola (born January 7, 1964), known professionally as Nicolas Cage, is an American actor and film producer. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Nicolas Cage, various accolades, including an Academy A ...

, Fred Hechinger,

Xander Berkeley Alexander Harper Berkeley (born December 16, 1955) is an American actor. Since beginning his career in the early 1980s, he has appeared in over 200 film and television projects. His films include ''Terminator 2: Judgment Day'' (1991), ''Candyman ...

, Rachel Keller,

Jeremy Bobb Jeremy Bobb (born May 13, 1981) is an American actor who has appeared on stage, television and in feature films. He had a recurring role in CBS's 2013 drama '' Hostages'' as White House Chief of Staff Quintin Creasy and co-starred as Herman Bar ...

, and Paul Raci. It had its world premiere at the

Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the most prestigious and largest publicly attended film festivals in the world. Founded in 1976, the festival takes place every year in early September. The organi ...

on September 9, 2022 and was released in the United States on October 20, 2023 by

Saban Films Saban Capital Group LLC is an American investment company based in Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the ...

Plot

In 1874, Will Andrews, the naive and idealistic son of a pastor, has dropped out of

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher lear ...

and travelled to Butcher's Crossing, a tiny frontier town in Kansas built on the buffalo hide trade. Sold on the romanticism of going on a buffalo hunt, Will falls in with Miller, an intense and stoic but experienced buffalo hunter who spins him a tale of a remote Colorado pass where one of the few remaining massive herds can be found. Though warned about Miller and the folly of this enterprise, Will puts up all of his money to fund the expedition. With Will's money, they purchase supplies and hire Charlie Hoge, a drunk, one armed, bible-thumper, to be wagon driver and camp cook, and Fred Schneider, a brash, but pragmatic, 'skinner' who insists on being paid a salary due to his doubts about Miller's stories. After an arduous journey that takes them to the brink of death, the party eventually reach the mountain pass to discover an untouched herd with thousands of buffalo. Miller begins his hunt and kills hundreds of buffalo a day, leaving Will and Schneider scrambling to skin the carcasses. Despite advisement against this, Miller refuses to slow down, while Will becomes numb to the methodical slaughter. After three weeks of constant butchery, Schneider points out that they have overstayed their intended time and already have more hides than they can carry. He proposes they stop and return before the weather turns and they become trapped. Miller refuses and Will sides with him. As a result of this, the team become trapped by a blizzard. They are now forced to live out the winter in the mountains for several months. Frustrated, Schneider lashes out at Hoge and burns his bible. In revenge, Hoge poisons Schneider's food. Will's sanity slips further and Miller obsesses over the triumph of returning to town with the largest haul ever seen once he's killed every single buffalo. The team settles in to endure a long, boring slog of survival as they wait the winter out. When spring comes, Schneider realizes that Hoge was poisoning him and kills him. Unable to haul all of the 4,600 hides they have collected, they pile 1,600 in their wagon and leave the remaining 3,000 with the intent to return for them. During the journey back, their damaged wagon falls off a cliff, taking Schneider and the 1,600 hides with it, as Miller and Will numbly stare on. Will and Miller return to town, only to find it largely abandoned and derelict. The two are horrified to learn that the bottom has fallen out of the buffalo hide market while they were trapped for the winter and the hides were now completely worthless. Robbed of his victory, Miller sets the old buffalo exchange building on fire. When asked if the experience was worth it, a dishevelled Will says that he has "seen what eneeded to see" on the buffalo hunt and rides into the wilderness, alone.

Cast

Production

Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as the ...

began in

Montana Montana ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota to the east, South Dakota to the southeast, Wyoming to the south, an ...

in October 2021.

Release

In September 2021, it was announced that

had acquired North American, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Scandinavia distribution rights to the film, while Altitude Film Distribution was handling international sales and distributing the film in the UK and Ireland. ''Butcher's Crossing'' had its world premiere at the

on September 9, 2022. It was theatrically released in the United States on October 20, 2023.

Box office

As of January 26, 2024, ''Butcher's Crossing'' grossed $15,648, in the United Arab Emirates.

Critical response

References

External links

* * {{Gabe Polsky 2022 films 2022 Western (genre) films 2020s American films 2020s English-language films American Western (genre) films English-language Western (genre) films Films based on American novels Films based on Western (genre) novels Films about hunting Films directed by Gabe Polsky Films set in 1874 Films set in Colorado Films set in Kansas Films set in the American frontier Films shot in Montana Saban Films films English-language documentary films