The Horseman

He’s just an Aussie bloke in a boiler suit, but he’s on a mission. Christian (Peter Marshall) has discovered that his teen daughter did a porn shoot the night she died of an overdose. It’s decided: he’ll find the men involved. He has a bag of tools and a pit of rage. It may sound like torture porn, yet this low-budget debut is a different beast, a revenge thriller in the Peckinpah spirit. The carnage is gratuitously elaborate, yet mostly the expression of a man’s anger at his own failings. Marshall captures the resolve and self-doubt beneath a mundane exterior, pushing proceedings towards flawed humanity over violent spectacle. It’s mean and upsetting, but though the cruelty may undermine the message of vengeance breeding vengeance, it’s never presented as slickly enjoyable or a facile solution.