The Bygone

The message the movie has is a good one. As in putting awareness on something many may not be aware of. Like how native Americans are being exploited - especially females in this case. As the opening text tells us, way more than any other group of females.

The movie is dramatic, has characters who try to do their best (well the good guys and gals that is) - but is it enough to fight back the ugliness and badness they have to face? Will there be something good that comes out of it? Apart from those viewing realizing how extreme some people can be - and how evil too.

Not an easy topic and not an easy movie therefor ... maybe not your thing which would totally be fine. Just be aware what you are going to watch.

I know I cant have watched the same movie that got 9 and 10 star reviews. About the only positives I can come up with are at times it was visually pleasing, production values were good and it tackled the serious issue of human trafficking. That is literally where the positives end. The acting ranged from mediocre to terrible, the plot was beyond convoluted, the characters thrown together more to make points then to be part of a convincing story.

I'm not even sure how you mess up a human trafficking plot, but they managed to do it by trying to make it not about money, power and control, but some misguided feelings the trafficker was supposed to have for his victim. It is cringeworthy to the extreme. The setting, a dying west, is tired and largely meaningless other then as a canvas for the message of white sexploitation of Native American women. Yet by adding the element of affection? it completely dilutes the message. More so it does it in a completely unconvincing fashion.

As for execution. Each scene seems like an independent undertaking with nothing flowing together. All in all it fails to create a fabric and instead feels like boxes being checked off with completely undeveloped characters moving around like puppets. Violence is sprinkled on the concoction like an too many toppings on an overly sweet sundae.

Forget all the PC nonsense this is just a poorly made and executed movie with a bizarre end tacked on because, well, why not? Ultimately my rating is based on not only on how mediocre it was, but how I would never want to have to watch it again.

The story of sex trafficking in the Dakota oil fields involving indigenous girls is very disturbing. The depraved person behind the crimes seems very contrived.

ND native here. Pretty sure there's no armadillos here. Or longhorn cattle... Most of the cast had TX or LA accents. Only thing resembling ND would maybe be the oil boom.

Ok writing, good directing and acting. It does have some flaws but holds its own as a thriller.

The story takes place in a rural area where the oil industry erodes the traditional country/cowboy life and brings big city crime. The environment is not clearly portrayed, but the characters are developed enough to not feel a stereotypes, and the story feels realistic and interesting.

At the center of the story are young people from the bottom of the social ladder, unable to find a place and victimized by various corrupt characters. That's as much as we are shown about their environment, except for other unsavory characters and a handful of honest people trying to make a living and helping.

Within the above limitations, the scenes and dialogs are well developed and directed, and the plot twist and turns frequently making this also an action flick that holds interest to its end.