Movie: Let Him Go (2020)

Let Him Go (2020) written and directed by Thomas Bezucha

Retired sheriff George Blackwell (Kevin Costner) lives with his wife Margaret (Diane Lane) on a Montana ranch. Their son James (Ryan Bruce), his wife Lorna (Kayli Carter), and their baby Jimmy live with them. James has a fatal accident. Lorna marries Donnie Weboy (Will Britain) who turns out to be an abusive husband and step-father. The young family has moved to their own apartment. Margaret bakes a cake to take over, only to discover that they left the night before to go to Donnie's family in North Dakota somewhere. Margaret, the only witness to the abuse, wants to go save their grandchild and packs the station wagon. George sees her packing and asks what's going on. She tells him about her plan and about the abuse. He reluctantly goes with her. It takes a while to find Lorna; Donnie's family turns out to be even more abusive than Donnie, leading to several intense confrontations.

The movie starts off slowly, seeming more like a character study of George and Margaret rather than a rescue thriller. Costner and Lane have good chemistry and are very convincing as a couple who have been together for a long time. They love and take care of each other even when they disagree about what is best to do. The conflict with the Weboy family gives their relationship more depth and expression. On the other hand, the story is very grim and dark. Signs of hope are often squelched and the escalating conflict becomes very violent and very vicious. The story is well told but was not very enjoyable for me.

Slightly recommended.