Let Him Go review: Kevin Costner and Diane Lane team up for a gripping western thriller

Kevin Costner’s huge success with the neo-western TV show Yellowstone has solidified his image as the heir-apparent to the king of the modern western (graciously taking the mantle from Clint Eastwood), a reputation that should only solidify with the upcoming release of Let Him Go, a gripping thriller that harkens back to classic western tropes while still remaining bracingly relevant.

Costner stars as George Blackledge, who leads a tranquil life with his wife Margaret (Diane Lane). Set in the ’60s, the couple is coping with the unexpected death of their adult son, shortly after his marriage to the shy Lorna (Kayli Carter), and the birth of their son. Already on shaky ground with Margaret before her husband’s death, Lorna soon marries the standoffish Donnie Weboy (Will Brittain). After Margaret witnesses Donnie hitting Lorna and her 3-year-old child Jimmy (Bram and Otto Hornung) on the street, she heads to the couple’s home to confront Donnie, only to find the family has quickly left town, with no word of their destination. That betrayal leads Margaret and George on a manhunt to rescue their grandson from Donnie’s clutches, only for them to end up face-to-face with the even more violent Weboy family clan.

It’s easy to draw an audience’s emotion from a child in danger, but there’s much more to Let Him Go than a custody battle gone awry. Director and screenwriter Thomas Bezucha (who based the film on Larry Watson’s novel) cut his teeth on lighter romantic fare like The Family Stone and Monte Carlo, and adds a believable romantic underpinning to the film’s core. Costner and Lane feel like a real lived-in couple (they also played partners in The Man of Steel), and anchor the film in a heartfelt place which makes what unfolds for them all the more upsetting.

George and Margaret slowly make their way to track down their grandson in North Dakota, using George’s connections as a retired sheriff for help, including an overnight stay in a prison (this is no romantic getaway). They eventually encounter Bill Weboy (Jeffrey Donovan, who plays a scumbag like no one else), and are brought before the Weboy den mother, the unhinged Blanche (Lesley Manville) at their secluded ranch. In one of the most stressful scenes in recent memory, the Blackledges are forced to sit down for dinner with the extended Weboys, with each side trying not to explode into violence over who should ultimately get to keep young Jimmy.

The latter half of Let Him Go plays out almost like an insane mashup of a classic western with The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. There are moments of shocking violence, tangible emotional stakes, and a cathartic climax between the two families that should have even the most jaded of cinephiles pumping their fists in the air.

We rarely get films like Let Him Go anymore, a decidedly adult story with top-tier actors that doesn’t neatly fit into any standardized genre restrictions. The scenery is stunning, the performances are all strong, and the film is a nearly excruciating exercise in restraint and creeping dread until it ultimately unleashes its final brutal confrontation. Costner and Lane may not be your typical action heroes, but Let Him Go shows the incredible lengths ordinary folks will go to protect their family if they are pushed hard enough. And you thought your in-laws were tough.

Let Him Go opens in select theatres on November 6.