''Cowboys'' is a 2020 American drama film written and directed by

Anna Kerrigan Anna may refer to: People Surname and given name * Anna (name) Mononym * Anna the Prophetess, in the Gospel of Luke * Anna (wife of Artabasdos) (fl. 715–773) * Anna (daughter of Boris I) (9th–10th century) * Anna (Anisia) (fl. 1218 to 1221) ...

. It stars Steve Zahn,

Jillian Bell Jillian Leigh Bell (born April 25, 1984) is an American actress, comedian and screenwriter. She stars in the 2019 film ''Brittany Runs a Marathon'' and 2022's ''I'm Totally Fine''. She starred as Jillian Belk on ''Workaholics'', voiced the role o ...

, Sasha Knight and Ann Dowd. It had its world premiere at Outfest on August 22, 2020, and was released on February 12, 2021, by Samuel Goldwyn Films.

Cast

* Steve Zahn as Troy *

as Sally * Sasha Knight as Joe * Ann Dowd as Detective Faith Erickson * Gary Farmer as Robert Spottedbird *

Chris Coy Christopher James Coy (born May 1, 1986) is an American actor. He is known for portraying Calvin Bunker on Cinemax’s ''Banshee'', L.P. Everett on HBO's '' Treme'', Martin on AMC's '' The Walking Dead'', and Paul Hendrickson on HBO's '' The Deu ...

as Jerry * A.J. Slaght as Stevie * Bob Stephenson as Sheriff George Jenkins * John Beasley as Ben the Friendly Ranger * John Reynolds as Grover

Plot

Trans boy Joe's troubled but well-intentioned father Troy takes off with him into the Montana wilderness, pursued by police, after his wife Sally, from whom he has recently separated, refuses to let Joe live as his authentic self.

Production

In an interview with PopMatters, Kerrigan said that there had never been any doubt about casting a non-binary or transgender actor to portray the role of Joe, and that after finding newcomer Sasha Knight, "it was obvious that he was our Joe."

Release

''Cowboys'' had its world premiere at the LGBTQ-oriented film festival Outfest on August 22, 2020, and shortly thereafter Samuel Goldwyn Films acquired distribution rights for it. The film had originally been set to have its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival in April 2020, however, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the festival was cancelled. It was eventually released on February 12, 2021.

Critical response

On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of based on reviews, with an average rating of . The site's critical consensus reads, "''Cowboys'' explores emotionally charged themes with a steady hand, highlighting the humanity of its characters in a story of fraught family dynamics and gender identity."

References

External links

* * * {{Rotten Tomatoes, cowboys_2020 2020 drama films 2020 films 2020 LGBT-related films American drama films LGBT-related drama films Transgender-related films Samuel Goldwyn Films films American LGBT-related films Films set in Montana Films shot in Montana 2020s English-language films 2020s American films