As everyone who knows me by now knows, I’m a big fan of Westerns. There is something about the old west and films centered around this part of American history that interest me quite a bit. There have been all kinds of different Westerns over the years, but none quite like Killing Faith.That title in and of itself is a bit of a mouth full. This particular western has a supernatural bent to it. It’s not an easy story to figure out, but writer/director Ned Crowley keeps audiences guessing on the motivations of the main characters. Where this story ends up going, I don’t know. It’s just a very weird Western. That I’m still digesting. 

In 1849, Arizona territory, a woman Sarah (DeWanda Wise), a freed slave raises her daughter, but there was something strange about her. She recruits a widowed doctor (Guy Pierce) to help her travel to a distant faith healer to find out what’s wrong with her daughter, if indeed something is wrong with her. They both have speculations on what is the issue with this little girl (Emily Ford), but nobody knows for sure. The journey to the faith healer, Preacher Ross (Bill Pullman) is an arduous one, and they run into a handful of crazy characters on their way to the distant town where the faith healer resides.

DaWanda Wise is an actress I wasn’t that familiar with coming into this movie. It’s not because she hasn’t been in much but what she’s been in I haven’t seen. Which is odd. I have seen a lot of actors and actresses in all kinds of films. I was glad that I was finally able to see her in something, and it’s Killing Faith. She does a good job as this mother who wants to know what’s supposedly wrong with her daughter. In this time in history, things weren’t exactly diagnosed as they are today with some kind of name. People just made assumptions about things. Most of the time, they weren’t wrong. This little girl has some kind of ailment, but is it that she’s the devil in disguise or something else. Maybe she’s possessed. Who knows? I really like what Wise did in this role, though. She did what any mother would do in her place. She tried to help her child.

Two other character actors I want to mention are Pearce and Pullman. Pearce has been doing great work lately in films like The Brutalist and The Shrouds. Some of his older stuff in The Proposition, Memento, and The Count of Monte Cristo were the films of his that I gravitated towards most. He brought gravitas towards his roles. Sometimes, he takes roles in movies like this one that are completely different from other things he has done. Sure, he’s been in Westerns before, but not like this one, though. He is a bit of a crazy character. He’s half drunk even though he says he doesn’t drink. The world around him is crazy. The journey he goes on with this woman and her child is just to make some money. It’s a lot to get into for money. I’m glad he’s not doing the same things all the time.

Pullman is famous for his role as the president in Independence Day and Spaceballs, the satire about Star Wars. He’s been acting for a while now, and even his son Lewis Pullman has turned into a decent actor. He hasn’t played a lot of bad guys in his career, though, and it was funny to see him play this quote en quote faith healer. He has a genuine, friendly nature to him at first until he changes into who he truly is. I had a few laughs at this character’s expense in this movie. I hadn’t seen him in a while, so I was glad to see him again after so long away.

Crowley used a few different things techniques with the direction and story. The look of the film was gorgeous, but there was a framing device that was added to the story. The Western landscape is captured very nicely at times. There was a darker cinematography that made a few scenes hard to see. The supernatural elements of the story played into the darker cinematography, though. The score was full of interesting sounds that also played into the oddness of the story and characters in the film. That’s what the complimentary nature that music does for a film.

Killing Faith is a very different kind of western than I’d ever seen before. The supernatural aspects gave this movie a very different feel than I’d seen before. Crowley infused a lot of things together to make this film happen. The cast was all pretty good, but it was Wise that I was fascinated by the most. She brought genuine gravitas to this role and movie. Pearce and Pullman were also both pretty good. I think people will like the un-normal nature of this western. It’s not a bad picture it’s just a little out there.

3 stars

Dan Skip Allen