A revenge Western about a woman on a bloody, violent mission will always garner interest, so it is quite tragic when a film with such a simple story crumbles. Trail of Vengeance is based on true tales from the Old West, and follows a woman who gets caught up in a colonel’s scheme to become a senator. He hires dangerous goons to do his bidding, which leads to a bloody exchange resulting in the murder of a good man while his wife, our protagonist, is left with bloodthirsty anger.

Trail Of Vengeance Falls Into Predictable Patterns

Just as the entire trailer revealed, Trail of Vengeance tells the story of Katherine Atherton (Rumer Willis), a widow who witnesses the murder of her husband. The hired hands who kill him are courtesy of Colonel Davis (Jeff Fahey), who wants to become a senator. He desires to hunt down a group of men who participated in the Civil War and who know of his bad deeds during that time. Caleb (Jeremy Sumpter), Katherine’s husband, leaves instructions in the event of his death, which leads her to John Scobell (Gbenga Akinnagbe), who tries to help the enraged Katherine the best he can.

The film works within the typical framework of a revenge Western. Someone is wronged and they’re cautioned against vengeance or retribution because of what it may cost. The headstrong lead won’t rest until they get the bad guys, and, inevitably, a shootout ensues with the good emerging as victor. They’re usually no better off than before, though. For such a basic framework, it’s amazing how many attempts result in failures. Trail of Vengeance is simply boring because it doesn’t put effort into endearing us to Katherine. It plays with a very interesting yet underserved sub-story about the Pinkertons and the Civil War.

Rumer Willis & The Supporting Cast Try But Fumble Under Poor Direction

Rumer Willlis does well enough as the hurt, vengeful wife, but she is not helped by the lackluster script and generally poor direction. Instead, we have a tolerable actress reciting boring lines in a dull film with little to no pᴀssion. At no point did I think she was the problem, but without better direction, she bears the burden of the film’s failures.

Willis is overshadowed by a far more interesting story about Pinkerton agents going undercover on the Confederates’ side. The atrocities they speak of and the mission they had carried out are infinitely more interesting than the story of a lone woman seeking vengeance. The two could have been melded into one, with Willis’ Katherine being in on the mission from the beginning and not an outsider who just happens to get caught up in this mess.

Everyone else in Trail of Vengeance is either giving too much or too little. Again, it is not really their fault, as the script is poorly written and executed by the director. The story of a wannabe senator trying to wipe out the Pinkertons for his political ambitions is as compelling as any Western, but it is undone by poor characterizations, the revenge plot taking up more space, and weak acting all around. Gbenga Akinnagbe is the only one who seems to get by unscathed as Katherine’s reluctant ally, as his performance is a bit more well-adjusted to the film’s tone.

A Revenge Western That Doesn’t Rise To The Occasion

Trail of Vengeance has good intentions. Feminist Westerns have been popping up more frequently in recent years to varying results. There is a place for these, but with a nearly all-male team behind the scenes, I don’t see how this was supposed to be successful. So many great stories about women taking charge are undermined by writing and directing because a woman’s perspective isn’t even in the room to begin with. This story lacks the tools necessary to take Katherine’s perspective seriously and provide her with the agency required to see to it that vengeance is dealt.

What we get instead is a film that weakly addresses some large social themes, has poorly written characters, and a predictable plot. The gunfights don’t get the excitement going, but they serve their purpose. The film looks fine, but there’s nothing particularly amazing about the cinematography and overall design, though it certainly feels like a Western. Luckily for this genre, nature is the greatest ᴀssist to any production as it lessens the workload in the visual department. That being said, an effort still has to be made.

The film ultimately feels like it is driven by someone who hasn’t really engaged with the best in the Western genre. Trail of Vengeance is undermined by the fact that a feminist Western cannot succeed without women having meaningful influence behind the scenes. What we are left with is a film that is a hollow imitation of a much-loved genre.