Murder at Yellowstone City, directed by Richard Gray (Robert the Bruce), is a Old West film written by Eric Belgau (Robert the Bruce) sees a former slave arrive in Yellowstone City, Montana—a desolate former boomtown now on the decline—looking for a place to call home. On that same day, a local prospector discovers gold—and is murdered. It was the first production to be shot on a new Western backlot at the site that was once the real Yellowstone City. Gabriel Byrne (Hereditary), Thomas Jane (The Expanse), Isaiah Mustafa (It Chapter Two), Richard Dreyfuss (Jaws), Nat Wolff (The Fault in Our Stars), Anna Camp (Pitch Perfect), Aimee Garcia (Lucifer), Scottie Thompson (The Blacklist), Emma Kenney (The Conners) and Zach McGowan (Shameless) star.

Murder at Yellowstone City was produced by Gray, Robert Menzies (The Blackcoat’s Daughter), Kelly Frazier (From Black) and Lisa Wolofsky (Fatman). Jane and Courtney Lauren Penn of Renegade Entertainment exec produced alongside Carter Boehm, Julie Stagner, Will Lowery and Alexis d’Amecourt.

“I’ve dreamed about the wild west since I was a kid, so to make this film with such a talented cast at our own western backlot in Montana is beyond my wildest dreams,” said Gray. “It’s the first film ever shot at the Yellowstone Film Ranch. It’s a really special story – a thrilling western. I can’t wait to share it with everyone.”

“We’re thrilled to be releasing MURDER AT YELLOWSTONE CITY,” added RLJE Films’ Chief Acquisitions Officer, Mark Ward. “This Old West film offers a unique twist on the classic western and we look forward to working with the filmmakers and talented cast.”

RLJE Films is a business unit of AMC Networks. Its recent and upcoming films include writer-director Riley Stearns’ sci-fi thriller Dual, starring Karen Gillan and Aaron Paul; David Oyelowo’s directorial debut The Water Man; Amber Sealey’s Ted Bundy pic No Man of God, starring Elijah Wood and Luke Kirby; and the apocalyptic holiday dramedy Silent Night from writer-director Camille Griffin,which stars Keira Knightley, Matthew Goode and Roman Griffin Davis.

With the gorgeous and stark grasslands of Waterford, Tennessee, standing in for 1906 Oklahoma, “Old Henry” opens with a scene worthy of Clint Eastwood’s Old West film such as “Pale Rider” and “Unforgiven”. Henry (Tim Blake Nelson) plays a widowed farmer and his estranged son Wyatt (Gavin Lewis), living out their days in a small, isolated patch of fertile land from which they scratch out a meager living. Things however, take an unexpected turn when a grievously injured stranger named Curry (Scott Haze) stumbles into their midst with a cash loot. Henry nurses the man back to health but is suspicious of Curry and the story he conjures. Soon enough a posse of unsavory characters headed by their vicious ringleader Ketchum (Stephen Dorff) turns up on their doorstep and all proverbial hell break loose.

By this point, we’ve come to suspect there’s more to Old Henry than meets the eye. He’s adept at tending to Curry’s wounds, he punches out Curry with fast efficiency at one point, he’s lightning-fast with a gun and he sure isn’t acting like a scared farmer when he’s told there’s a trio of killers headed this way. Writer-director Potsy Ponciroli does a magnificent job of creating a slow build of tension, punctuated by the occasional and stunning moment of violence. (There’s even a measure of dark and grisly humor, e.g., when a body is disposed of and hungry pigs are fed, and those are not disconnected occurrences.)

With beautiful, widescreen cinematography by John Matysiak, impeccable production design and a pitch-perfect score from Jordan Lehning, “Old Henry” is a well-paced and engrossing story — and that’s even before there’s a revelation that’s great (that we saw coming as soon as we heard a certain character’s name). The ensemble is uniformly excellent, but this is Tim Blake Nelson’s showcase from the moment he appears onscreen, and he delivers world-weary greatness every step of the way.