The Unholy Trinity is yet another example of the growing market for low-budget Westerns in recent years. Whether it’s the result of streaming platforms hungry for content or aging stars chasing one last lead role before riding off into the sunset, the demand clearly exists.
We’ve seen the good (The Thicket, Surrounded), the bad (The Old Way), and the ugly (Rust), and The Unholy Trinity lands somewhere in between. It’s a mixed bag of engaging and flat performances, plot points that swing from profound to downright bizarre, and violence that’s more gratuitous than gripping.
Ultimately, The Unholy Trinity feels like blasphemy against a once-great Hollywood genre.
The Unholy Trinity Review and Synopsis
The story begins with a young man, Henry (Brandon Lessard), visiting his father, Isaac Broadway (Superman: The Animated Series star Tim Daly), an infamous businessman about to be hanged for a capital crime. Henry hasn’t seen his father since childhood and has only just returned in time for the execution.
When Broadway sees his son, he demands that Henry kill the sheriff who set him up, setting the stage for some good old-fashioned filial vengeance. An associate of Isaac, Christopher (Samuel L. Jackson), watches with amusement in the crowd. Later, Henry tracks the sheriff to a small church in town, where he finds the lawman preparing to say a prayer.
As Henry approaches, the creaky floorboards beneath his feet give him away. The sheriff, Gabriel Dove (Pierce Brosnan), with a silver mane and a thick Irish accent, already has his pistol cocked and hidden beneath his coat. The interaction sets up an unlikely bond that leads to bloodshed and the uncovering of family secrets that have remained dormant for decades.
The Unholy Trinity is a mixed bag of genre cliches
The Unholy Trinity was directed by Richard Gray, a former award-winning reality television screenwriter from Australia who, in recent years, has carved out a niche making low-budget thrillers and Westerns, including Murder at Yellowstone City. His latest effort features a washed-out, subdued tone that lingers well into the film’s third act, dragging the pace down considerably.
The script from Lee Zachariah is a mixed bag of genre cliches. Some work, most others don’t, while the characters are so thin, they have nothing to do but be different. Jackson’s character is meant to be highly disruptive but is so antagonistic it is hard to believe no one puts a bullet in his head to shut him up.
Of course, revealing that would spoil a third-act plot point, which is the only reason the character seems to exist in the first place. The booby prize goes to Lessard, whose role is meant to depict an arc of innocence shattered by unforgiving violence.
Is The Unholy Trinity Worth Watching?
But this isn’t Unforgiven, where a writer gets more than he bargained for by following William Munny. Meanwhile, Daly struggles to convey the unhinged madness needed to set the film’s tone in the opening scene.
The only one who fares well is Brosnan — so compelling in the 2006 Western Seraphim Falls — who remains engaging here, especially in a terrific opening sequence where he shows Henry the error of his ways. If you had to find one, he is the only reason to watch The Unholy Trinity, as is seeing The New World’s Q’orianka Kilcher in a film again.
However, as the film continues, The Unholy Trinity feels more than a distraction, almost a penance for our sins for demanding more from our movies and, most importantly, our time.
You can watch The Unholy Trinity in theaters on June 13th!
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