Place Of Bones

Directed by Audrey Cummings and written by Richard Taylor, Place Of Bones takes place in 1876 on a ranch in the middle of the desert. Pandora (Heather Graham) barely ekes out a living in this remote place with her daughter, Hester (Brielle Robillard). Pandora’s husband is buried a few yards away atop a small hill that Hester visits daily. Pandora is very no-nonsense, imparting to her daughter the importance of speaking properly and the value of the work to be done around the homestead.

One day, Hester finds a severely injured man near her father’s grave. The mother and daughter take the man in and straighten out his broken leg the best they can. Once awake, the man says his name is Calhoun (Corin Nemec), and he just wants his saddle bag, and he’ll be on his way. Unfortunately, he is not well enough to leave, which puts his caretakers in peril. See, Calhoun is a bank robber, and after his latest heist, he and his partner in crime got into it, leaving the other one a corpse. Now, the dead person’s brother, Bear John (Tom Hopper), and his ruthless gang are seeking Calhoun for the money and his head. Will Calhoun change his ways and not put Pandora and Hester in a bind? Considering where they live, do the family members even need saving?

“…Hester finds a severely injured man near her father’s grave.”

Place Of Bones has a solid setup and a killer third act. The difficulty of life on the ranch is patiently observed as Pandora and Hester cook gruel, all while mom instills proper manners into her daughter. The nearest town is over 90 miles away and is spoken of as an unwelcoming place. This adds a small layer of mystery to the family, and hints are subtly dropped until the big reveal at the end. Calhoun disrupting this way of life, if it can be called living, is well established, and how he fills the impressionable Hester with wild ideas creates needed dramatic tension between Pandora and the thief.

The only action scene is at the end when the gang descends onto Pandora’s home. It’s pretty thrilling. Character geography makes perfect sense as the shootout ensues. While the CGI blood is so-so, the editing excels at building excitement, and that release of chaotic fun and the slow burn of a story has been building toward is totally worth it. Then the revelation of what’s actually happening is so unexpected, yet makes total sense, that it demands an immediate rewatch to pick up all the clues. This twist is not a curve for its sake, it is a fundamental piece to understanding the characters and changes how audiences view everyone and their actions.