I’ve always loved westerns, so I was looking forward to seeing The Stolen from Ascendant Releasing in Niall Johnson’s thrilling Western adventure, which is a heart-wrenching story set in New Zealand following a woman on a life-defining journey to rescue her kidnapped son.
Set in 1860, Charlotte Lockton (Alice Eve: Star Trek Into Darkness, Entourage) has settled in the South Island of New Zealand with her wealthy husband, David (Lucas Hinch: Nothing Personal) during the Gold Rush. Blissful beginnings are suddenly shaken as Charlotte’s world is turned upside down and her circumstances are drastically altered. Frustrated with the apathy of the authorities, she decides to take on a journey of discovery and strength to track him down alone.
When her son is Stolen she joins a convoy of ex-cons, prostitutes and Maori warriors heading for the rough mining community of Gold Town. There she meets Joshua McCullen (Jack Davenport: Kingsman: The Secret Service, Pirates of the Caribbean, The Wild Wedding), the owner of the town and a man who is pivotal to uncovering the truth behind the disappearance of her son.
The first thing that caught my attention was the look of the film, it does look good, the cinematography is so nicely done as is the colour used throughout the film from the day scenes to the night scenes, in particular, towards the beginning of the film.
The soundtrack for The Stolen is also something that works very well throughout, Paul Lawler has produced a soundtrack that is both uplifting and moving, it has that Western feel with gorgeous acoustic guitars, haunting vocals and violins that brings the film’s soundtrack to life.
Niall Johnson has certainly brought the characters to the screen with style, not only has he directed a movie that is worthy of watching and being called a western, but there is some lovely camera work, look out for the attack on the wagon and the brilliant stationary and moving camera work, which gives you the feeling of being both in the thick of it and as a bystander.
I really enjoyed Alice Eve’s performance as the mother looking for her child is very good, with her various mood changes, giving emotion to her character’s portrayal.
Along the journey to find her stolen son, she is joined by the brilliant Graham McTavish (Creed, The Hobbit, Outlander, Preacher) who really shows his passion for the performance, Cohen Holloway (What we do in the Shadows, Hunt for the
The Stolen is directed by Niall Johnson (White Noise, Keeping Mum, The Big Swap) and written, produced and starring Emily Corcoran (Sisterhood, Confine), this is a movie that I thoroughly enjoyed from start to finish and is one that I could easily watch several times.
It is so nice to see a western adventure hitting the screens and makes a lovely change from the SciFi and Horror that we seem to be bombarded with these days. The Stolen is in cinemas now and if you liked films such as The Missing and The Searchers, then is certainly the film for you.
The home release date for The Stolen is now available on Digital Download, iTunes and DVD.
Take a step back to the 1800s with The Stolen
Summary
The Stolen is a refreshing change from modern day based movies, with the superb cast, direction and production make this western a movie worth seeing.
Karen Woodham is the founder and owner of the Blazing Minds. She is also a Cinema reviewer and works with RealD 3D reviewing the latest 3D releases and IMAX, she has also had several articles published in various publications including the first edition of SFW Magazine. In 2015 she became an Award Winning Blogger and also has her website listed as one of the UK’s Top 10 Film Blogs.