The Thicket (2024) Movie Review: Where to Watch Online
Joe R. Lansdale’s 2013 novel The Thicket was an odd, darkly humorous Western that combined grit, humor, and wild characters into a journey of revenge and family. When the news broke that Peter Dinklage would headline and produce a movie adaptation of the novel, fans of both the actor and the book were excited. Directed by Elliott Lester, The Thicket (2024) brings a grim and bleak tone to the big screen, capturing the harshness of the Wild West, but with a surprising lack of the quirky charm found in Lansdale’s original work.
Plot Overview
The film is set in the early 20th century, amidst the unforgiving landscape of West Texas. It follows Jack (Levon Hawke), a young Christian boy, who embarks on a mission to rescue his sister, Lula (Esme Creed-Miles), who has been kidnapped by a violent outlaw, Cutthroat Bill (Juliette Lewis). Jack enlists the help of bounty hunter Reginald Jones (Peter Dinklage) and his partner, Eustace (Gbenga Akinnagbe), to track down Bill and rescue Lula from the gang’s clutches.
Jones is a grizzled, gun-toting bounty hunter with a sharp wit and an even sharper gun, while Eustace, his loyal sidekick, is a physically imposing man who is both a skilled fighter and a compassionate character. Together, this unlikely trio embarks on a perilous journey through the lawless wilderness, battling outlaws and facing moral dilemmas along the way. As they navigate their quest, the film explores themes of family, survival, and the search for belonging in a harsh world.
Performances and Characters
Peter Dinklage’s portrayal of Reginald Jones is, unsurprisingly, one of the film’s highlights. As a small man living in a big, dangerous world, Jones is tough, resourceful, and unapologetically cynical. Dinklage brings a level of complexity to the character, mixing vulnerability with a hardened exterior, which makes Jones one of the more interesting Western protagonists in recent memory.
Juliette Lewis as Cutthroat Bill steals the show as the film’s primary antagonist. Her portrayal of a rough, scarred, and gruff outlaw is mesmerizing, drawing comparisons to Jennifer Jason Leigh’s portrayal in The Hateful Eight. Her gravelly voice and menacing presence add a layer of unpredictability to the film, making her a standout villain. The tension between her and Dinklage’s Jones creates some of the film’s most memorable moments.
Levon Hawke as Jack brings a sense of innocence and vulnerability to the film, providing a moral center in a world filled with brutality. His character’s evolution, from a naive boy to someone hardened by his experiences, is compelling to watch. Gbenga Akinnagbe’s Eustace offers a calm and grounding presence amid the chaos, though the film could have explored his character’s background more thoroughly.
Themes and Tone
While Lansdale’s novel managed to balance humor with the darker aspects of the story, The Thicket film adaptation leans heavily into the grimness, often at the expense of the quirky charm that made the original work so beloved. The film focuses more on the brutality and harshness of the Wild West, with moments of violence that can feel overwhelming at times.
This decision to prioritize the darker tone over humor might work for audiences who enjoy gritty Westerns like The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, but it risks alienating fans of the novel who expected a more balanced adaptation.
The film also touches on themes of family and belonging, especially through the lens of the found-family dynamic between Jack, Jones, and Eustace. However, some of the subplots, such as a romantic storyline involving a prostitute (Leslie Grace), feel unnecessary and detract from the central narrative, slowing down the film’s pacing.
Cinematography and Direction
One of the film’s strongest elements is its visual style. Director Elliott Lester, along with cinematographer Guillermo Garza, creates a strikingly bleak version of the Wild West, where cold landscapes and snow-covered plains dominate the scenery. The film’s aesthetic is reminiscent of spaghetti Westerns and shares some visual similarities with Sergio Corbucci’s The Great Silence. The oppressive cold and desolate landscape serve as a metaphor for the harshness of the characters’ lives, reinforcing the film’s darker tone.
Lester’s direction, while competent, occasionally falters under the weight of unnecessary plotlines. At 108 minutes, the film feels longer than it should, primarily due to the inclusion of extraneous characters and subplots that do little to advance the main story.
Where to Watch The Thicket Online
As a Tubi Original, The Thicket is available to stream for free on Tubi in the United States. Tubi, known for its extensive library of free content, has ventured into original programming in recent years, and The Thicket is one of its most high-profile releases to date.
For those looking to rent or purchase the film, The Thicket is also available on popular platforms like Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, Google Play, and Vudu. These platforms offer the movie for rental or purchase in both HD and 4K formats.
Streaming on Tubi is free with ads, making it accessible to a broad audience, while renting or purchasing through services like Amazon or Vudu will provide an ad-free experience.
Conclusion
The Thicket (2024) offers a solid, if not groundbreaking, entry into the Western genre. Peter Dinklage and Juliette Lewis deliver standout performances that elevate the material, even when the pacing and additional characters weigh the film down. While it may not fully capture the spirit of Joe R. Lansdale’s novel, it still provides a grim, engaging look at the darker side of the Wild West.
For fans of gritty Westerns and character-driven stories, The Thicket is worth checking out. Whether you stream it for free on Tubi or rent it on another platform, it’s a film that stands out in a genre that is increasingly rare in modern cinema.
