The Shooting, a so-called "anti-western" or "acid western," is compelling literally and figuratively.

A Criterion classic and a film with, at the time of writing, a 100% critical score on the website Rotten Tomatoes, the movie never had a widespread American theatrical release but survived thanks to its acclaim.

Starring Warren Oates, Millie Perkins, Will Hutchins, and Jack Nicholson, and directed by Monte Hellman, a woman hires two men to take her through the desert. For what purpose? She won't entirely say.

As tension builds and things get more complicated, well, all you can do is feel the doom of it all.

And as things get fuzzier, perhaps the line between straight narrative and existential pondering builds, the real mastery here is not overdoing it.
Join me for a discussion of this captivating film and its lasting legacy.

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