Godless Review

Godless is a limited series western that follows a selection of smaller groups that all live in relatively the same area. It provides a number of encounters and individual smaller tales for what feels like a typical generic western film. This concept is then stretched out across seven long episodes. It also aims to be female empowering I suppose as the town is basically just a large group of women that were left alone and broken after a tragic mining accident. This adds some dynamics and it really seems to aim to be diverse as possible which would have been rather rare in that era. That aside as it really doesn't matter too much, it's decent.

It follows the groups dealing with a large mass of Outlaws that go around doing whatever. There's a rancher group present, an officer of the law tracking the Outlaws and others just interacting with one another. It's got a nice selection of weird smaller tales and these all come together for an epic finale. It definitely doesn't hold back in terms of visceral content, but certainly takes its time getting there. I was surprised at some aspects of how intense things were, but not entirely blown way by the presentation of it all. It really feels like an overly long film and I'm not sure the extra time added any benefit.

I will say that Netflix's Godless is beautiful, the cinematography is gorgeous and almost every scene is stunning. The opening scene in particular was amazingly well done as was the big finale. These are both very intense visually and present in a way that demands attention. That whole epic battle towards the end was intense and very well shot making it easy to see the whole situation at a larger view. I even found the balance of color and special stylized portions to be dazzling. The acting was solid throughout helping to bring the era to life well and for a time piece it was mostly a good representation. It could have used some more focus or even some additional points of interest as I'm not sure what the overall goals were for some of the stories. Everything just eventually got wrapped up and it would have been nice to see some more meaning throughout.

The Conclusion

It's really not at all a bad watch as it looks stunning visually and was well shot, but Godless could have just been a regular film. It felt as though the general narrative was stretched while never really diving into any of the characters. Each just had a smaller moment and it worked into what felt like was a generic conclusion, at least in the western genre. It is a truly well shot experience however and I loved the stylized scenes. I wasn't however a fan of the flashbacks since they seemed to only serve a single character and they felt unnecessary. Still, Netflix's Godless is an alright watch with some lovely scenes and a perfect presentation of the era. It has some epic moments, but with all the extra time that was available I thought they'd develop characters further.

Godless Review at Home with Streamed Viewing
Screening was Provided by Netflix

Rating Overall: 6.5