Netflix’s Women-Driven Western ‘Godless’ Is The Show We Need Right Now

A good Western is hard to come by these days. A good Western with well-written female characters? Nearly impossible. Scott Frank and Steven Soderbergh‘s new Netflix series Godless, however, manages to accomplish both. That’s right. The typically slow-moving, male-driven genre finds new feet in this seven-episode series, and does so with a brilliant cast, tight script, and rich visuals. The time couldn’t be better for this female-fronted Western, and luckily, it lives up to all the hype.

Frank, who previously put his writing skills on display with hits like Logan, Minority Report, and Get Shorty, is clearly in his element here, making up for gaps with a sprawling narrative à la Game of Thrones and creating intriguing characters with depth and raw emotion. Godless plays like a seven-hour film, but it’s better for it; while some segments may require more patience than binge-watchers are used to, it’s ultimately a rewarding experience that makes all that waiting worth it. Within the first few minutes of the series, we’re plunged right into an 1880’s New Mexico town where it appears that everyone has been killed, and shortly thereafter, a man on horseback approaches a ranch cabin and is promptly shot by its resident, the trigger-happy Alice Fletcher (Downton Abbey and Good Behavior‘s Michelle Dockery). Before we’ve even reached the halfway point of the first episode, Jeff Daniels‘ outlaw Frank Griffin has lost an arm, Roy Goode (Jack O’Connell) has nearly died from the wounds inflicted on him by Alice, and Sheriff Bill McNue (Scoot McNairy) has returned home to find his widowed sister Mary Agnes (the incomparable Merritt Wever) donning pants and picking up a shotgun to protect what’s hers. There is a lot of setup that goes into Godless at the beginning, but it all counts – and it’s important to pay attention, because every scene matters.

When you’re not getting sucked in by the enchanting score or rich visuals of Godless, the sheer boldness of the female characters across the board is bound to stun you. The dynamics at play between each of the roles is electric; Wever’s Mary is fierce and foreboding, but in an instant she can flip a switch and take your breath away with an emotional scene. Her unrelenting belief that their female-dominated town should stay that way (and her willingness to do whatever it takes to get what she wants) is wildly compelling, and watching sparks fly between her and Dockery whenever they share the screen feels like a true treat.

It’s rare that we ever get to see women take the reins in a Western, and even though Godless certainly employs some familiar genre tropes and scenes of violence and romance, it still manages to surprise and subvert expectations in unique ways. How often do we really get to reflect upon the importance of women in this country’s history (especially nowadays)? Godless effortlessly allows these females to control their own narratives, and watching them kick ass, take names, and build a world of their own couldn’t be more resonant in our current climate.