Some movies don’t need to shout to leave a lasting impression. "Unforgiven" is one such film. I came to it expecting a straightforward Western with dusty towns, gunfights, outlaws and sheriffs.
It has all those things, sure. But what stayed with me wasn’t the action. It's the way it lingers on the people left behind after the bullets stop flying. They're the reason the heroes decide to put themselves in the path of danger to make things right over an injured woman.
"Unforgiven" is a story that stuck in my head long after the credits rolled, and even now, months later, I still think about it. Not because of any one big moment, but because of the way it made me feel, and how it changed my perception of Westerns forever.
And since it's streaming on Paramount Plus, now is the perfect time to revisit it or watch it for the first time.
What is ‘Unforgiven’ about?
William Munny (Clint Eastwood) is a former gunslinger who’s left his violent past behind to raise his children on a small, failing farm. He’s long since given up drinking and killing — or at least, he’s tried to.
When a young bounty hunter shows up with a job offer, Munny agrees to one last ride to track down two cowboys who attacked a woman in a nearby town. He teams up with his old friend, Ned Logan (Morgan Freeman), and sets out, reluctantly, into a world he thought he’d left behind.
Along the way, they run up against the town’s brutal sheriff, Little Bill Daggett (Gene Hackman), who keeps the peace with intimidation and violence.
What unfolds isn’t a typical revenge story, but something slower and more complicated. It's a look at what violence really costs and how hard it is to outrun the past.
Why you should stream ‘Unforgiven’ on Paramount Plus
Munny isn't some charming antihero. He’s a man who can’t even ride a horse properly anymore. He’s awkward, tired, and almost pathetic at times.
And yet there’s a weight to him, like he’s dragging the ghost of every man he ever killed behind him. He’s not back for revenge to satisfy some righteous cause; he’s back because he needs money, and that's the most real reason of all — though he does feel for the woman who was abused at the hands of two sadistic cowboys.
His survival mode actions make the movie that much more devastating, though.
There’s a moment later in the movie where Munny picks up a bottle of whiskey. It’s such a small thing — barely a few seconds of screen time. But it knocked the air out of me. Because you know what that bottle means, and you know what’s coming. You know the man he’s about to become again, the one who everyone feared back during his youth.
And you also know, without anyone saying it out loud, that there’s no coming back from it this time. That’s the kind of storytelling "Unforgiven" is built on and why it works so well for me, despite the fact that I'm simply not a Western fan.
Gene Hackman is also terrifying as Little Bill. But not in the way movie villains usually are. He’s calm, collected, even kind at times. And then, suddenly, he’s not.
There’s a scene with a man building a house. It's all about Hackman showing you exactly how far someone will go when they think they’re the one keeping order. Bill's response to immediately take the man out feels so real, and it serves as a stark reminder that even though he's a peacekeeper in the eyes of the law, there's no real peace to be found with him in charge.
"Unforgiven" is considered a classic of the "modern cowboy" Western subgenre. Over at Rotten Tomatoes, it's amassed an impressive 96% rating out of 108 reviews.
"'Unforgiven' gives us something to think about — and something to answer for — and Eastwood was just the man to make it," wrote Boston Globe's Jay Carr.
Even if you aren't into Westerns, this movie is one that will linger with you long after the credits roll. It will also likely push you to check out more of Eastwood's long list of films. It's available to stream on Paramount Plus right now, so why not find out whether you're a fan of the revisionist Western, after all.
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