The Unholy Trinity (2025)
Directed by: Richard Gray
Premise: Set in the 1870s Montana territory, a young man (Brandon Lessard) travels to a frontier town intending to avenge his father. Instead, he discovers a web of corruption and deceit.
What Works: The western genre has enjoyed a quiet comeback but some of these period pictures like Horizon and The Power of the Dog have been rather ponderous. The Unholy Trinity is remarkably focused. It runs a tight ninety-five minutes but the filmmakers insert a lot of background and character detail. Like a lot of westerns, The Unholy Trinity is about society and our notions of justice. There are several groups at work in the story with most of them seeking revenge for a killing. The way these characters interact creates a cycle of violence. The Unholy Trinity focuses on a young man who is not hardened or courageous but travels west to fulfill his father’s last request and kill the sheriff. The son discovers that his father was not the man he thought he was and questions of character and integrity are a consistent theme throughout the story. Brandon Lessard is well cast in the lead role. He doesn’t try to make the character tough but there is an earnestness to the young man and a naivety that is gradually worn away. The way Lessard gauges his performance is impressive. Pierce Brosnan plays the sheriff and there in an interesting moral ambiguity to the character. The sheriff is a reasonable and peaceable man but he’s shown to make ethically compromised choices for the great good. The sheriff is contrasted by an outlaw played by Samuel L. Jackson. The outlaw is a former slave who is willing to lie, manipulate, and murder his way to fortune but the character’s background and rationale make him a complicated villain. The Unholy Trinity is paced well. The filmmakers waste no time while inserting a lot of texture and detail and balancing a lot of characters and subplots. This is an action oriented western and the climactic shootout is exciting and cinematic. The violence is sometimes brutal but the film maintains a dark and mournful tone.
What Doesn’t: One minor flaw of The Unholy Trinity is its costuming. The story is set in the 1870s with characters living in the western frontier. Most of the sets look convincing for the time but the outfits are too clean and perfectly cut, like they were just taken off the rack from the costume department.
Bottom Line: The Unholy Trinity is a solidly produced and well-acted western. The filmmakers tell a compelling story while layering a lot of character detail and texture onto the plot.
Episode: #1053 (June 22, 2025)