Film Review – Surrounded (2023)

The screenplay for “Surrounded” (credited to Andrew Pagana and Justin Thomas) looks to balance the bigness of western adventure with the intimacy of a stage drama. The writing follows the saga of a Buffalo Soldier trying to find her way five years after the end of the Civil War, hunting for a sense of freedom while aware that such liberation is impossible to achieve. There’s a hunt for money and intensifying games of trust, but “Surrounded” isn’t a rollicking cowboy picture, but something more interested in the corrosive ways of psychological standoffs and visions of the future. It’s interesting work from Pagana and Thomas, who stick to character while easing in a few more physical acts of violence, and director Anthony Mandler gives the endeavor a rich visual presentation, doing well with a limited budget and a remote location. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com