Viggo Mortensen loves him a good Western. The actor has starred in several of them, 2008’s “Appaloosa,” 2004’s “Hidalgo,” and even more recent arthouse international films like “Jauja” and “Far from Men” employ elements of this genre. Mortensen has also moved into writing and directing features in recent years, following the critically-acclaimed “Falling,” and so his next directorial effort, “The Dead Don’t Hurt,” is also returning to the dangerous Western frontier.
Debuting at the Toronto International Film Festival last year, Shout! Studios is releasing “The Dead Don’t Hurt” this summer in May. Set in the 1860s, the drama is a Western thriller about the fiercely independent French Canadian Vivienne Le Coudy, who embarks on a relationship with Danish immigrant Holger Olsen and the dangers that follow (read our review). The film stars Vicky Krieps (“Phantom Thread”) alongside Mortensen in the leads, with Solly McLeod, Garret Dillahunt, Colin Morgan, Ray McKinnon, Luke Reilly, Atlas Green, and Danny Huston filling out the supporting cast.
Here’s the long official synopsis:
The Dead Don’t Hurt is a story of star-crossed lovers on the western U.S. frontier in the 1860s. Vivienne Le Coudy (Vicky Krieps) is a fiercely independent woman who embarks on a relationship with Danish immigrant Holger Olsen (Viggo Mortensen). After meeting Olsen in San Francisco, she agrees to travel with him to his home near the quiet town of Elk Flats, Nevada, where they start a life together. The outbreak of the civil war separates them when Olsen makes a fateful decision to fight for the Union. This leaves Vivienne to fend for herself in a place controlled by corrupt Mayor Rudolph Schiller (Danny Huston) and his unscrupulous business partner, powerful rancher Alfred Jeffries (Garret Dillahunt). Alfred’s violent, wayward son Weston (Solly McLeod) aggressively pursues Vivienne, who is determined to resist his unwanted advances. When Olsen returns from the war, he and Vivienne must confront and make peace with the person each has become. Both a tragic love story and a nuanced depiction of the conflict between revenge and forgiveness, The Dead Don’t Hurt is a portrait of a passionate woman determined to stand up for herself in an unforgiving world dominated by ruthless men.
Krieps was awarded the 2023 Toronto Film Festival Tribute Performer Award, which surely only helped elevate the film’s profile. Shout Studios! will release “The Dead Don’t Hurt” on May 31 and open it in theaters nationwide, a big push for what might have otherwise been a smaller limited release from another indie studio. Check out the first trailer for the film below.
