It’s 1860s San Francisco and the strong and independent Vivienne Le Coudy (Vicky Krieps) finds herself drawn to the stolid Danish immigrant Holger Olsen (Viggo Mortensen). They soon marry and Holger and Vivienne travel back to Holger’s home in Elk Flats, Nevada to build a life together. After a time the American Civil War flares up and Holger feels that it is his duty to enlist and leave Vivienne to the wolves as it were. One wolf in particular happens to be the son of a powerful Rancher in the area, and his violent outbursts and vulgar advances to Vivienne culminate in a terrible act that leaves her changed forever. When Holger finally returns from the war, he must face the changes and hardships that they have both been through. Will they be able to pick up the pieces of their lives and move forward?

The Dead Don’t Hurt is not a traditional western. There are no heroes riding into town to take down the bad guys and win the girl. This isn’t even a typical revisionist western, subverting the western tropes and showing the true callousness and brutality of the west (it does but that isn’t the point). Instead, this is a film of characters living apart and together and just trying to exist in the only ways they know how. It is at times a delicately romantic film. We believe the love between Holger and Vivienne. But this is far from a sentimental plot either. We see the initial distaste on Vivienne’s face when she first sees Holger’s, and now her, home, barely more than a glorified shack. But Vivienne is strong-willed and cares for Holger enough to soldier on. Continuing the trend of this being a different kind of western, when Holger goes off to war, many films would choose to follow him, showing the heat of battle to inject thrills into the proceedings. Instead, we stay with Vivienne. We watch her adapt to a world she has been thrown into with her anchor now gone, setting her adrift. But we also see how resilient she is. She gets a job tending bar in the local saloon which at first seems like a boon but becomes a terrifying ordeal when the despicable Weston (Solly McLeod) focuses his attentions on her, culminating in a despicable act that leaves Vivienne in a very uncompromising position upon Holger’s return. But even in these dire straits, this couple’s love for one another doesn’t completely fall apart. They persevere. And when even greater trials come their way, the movie becomes something else, a story of how to handle life on its own terms and how to adapt and survive. A pull quote on the back of the case compares The Dead Don’t Hurt with Unforgiven. And while both take a more fully realized revisionist approach to the western, where Unforgiven is sad and bitter, The Dead Don’t Hurt, like Vivienne herself, perseveres, not content to wallow in misery. It hopes for a better future, or at least a little peace. To complement the complex themes in the film, Mortensen and Krieps are both stellar in the roles, fully embodying real three-dimensional characters that live and breathe…And to think, Mortensen stepped in to play the role at the last minute after the actor he had lined up to play Holger dropped out. It’s a kind of kismet at work, I think. As director, Mortensen also imbues the film with a graceful naturalism that carries the story wonderfully.

Shout Factory has delivered a very nice digital transfer with stellar video quality, capturing the elegiac cinematography beautifully with no distortion in the image to be seen. The 5.1 DTS-HD audio is also very clean and clear, and while this isn’t an action-packed film, some nice peripheral sounds like the wind blowing dust along the street really give the film a nice sense of immersion. For extras, we have a couple of really nice inclusions. First is an extended conversation between actor/writer/director Mortensen and acclaimed director Jane Campion over Zoom with Mortensen providing a lot of insight into what drew him to the idea, how it originated and how he ended up playing the co-lead among other things with Campion complimenting him highly on the film at times. We also get a ‘Making of’ documentary running over an hour that contains lots of behind-the-scenes footage.

The Dead Don’t Hurt is a somber, lived-in western. It’s the kind of film that feels fully realized out of the gate, a rare feat indeed. It’s heart-breaking and hopeful in equal measure and is absolutely recommended for anyone looking for a nuanced character drama delicately shot and magnificently acted.