The Reel Review
A freed slave living in a plague-ridden part of the 1849 American West hires a widowed doctor to lead her and her young white daughter, whose touch mysteriously kills on contact, on a perilous, days-long journey across the hostile Arizona territory to visit a faith healer. Guy Pearce, DeWanda Wise and Bill Pullman star in this Western/mystery.
Co-writer/director Ned Crowley examines the deadly consequences of ignorance, superstition, fear and paranoia in his broody story that captures the harsh living conditions of the era. The mother fears her daughter, the product of rape, is possessed, the doctor suspects she is merely an asymptomatic carrier of the plague. The three encounter a variety of characters on their journey, the most memorable being a creepy woman (Joanna Cassidy) and her non-verbal adult children – one wearing a burlap sack over his head – that look like they stepped right out of The Hills Have Eyes.
For a low budget film, the cinematography and score are surprisingly good, which helps offset some dodgy CGI, Western town sets that look like Western town sets, and frustrating gaps in the supernatural element of the story. All is forgiven, however, given Crowley’s unique, intriguing story reminiscent of the harsh 2015 Western Bone Tomahawk.
REEL FACTS
• DeWanda Wise’s acting credits include 2022’s Jurassic World Dominion and the 2017 Spike Lee dramedy TV series She’s Gotta Have It.
• Joanna Cassidy (Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter’s Dead, Blade Runner) has won a Golden Globe for the 1983 TV sitcom Buffalo Bill and been nominated for two Emmys – for Six Feet Under and Buffalo Bill. Her next film will be the 2026 drama Last Hand, with Beverly D’Angelo and Mimi Kennedy, about a team of misfits who compete in the world bridge championships to save their New Orleans club.
• Killing Faith was filmed in and around Santa Fe, New Mexico.
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