UNHOLY TRINITY, THE
(director: Richard Gray; screenwriter: Lee Zachariah; cinematographer: ;Thomas Scott Stanton editor: Lee Smith; music: Marco Beltrami, Tristan Beltrami; cast: Samuel L. Jackson (St. Christopher), Pierce Brosnan (Sheriff Gabriel Dove), Brandon Lessard (Henry Broadway), Gianni Capaldi (Gideon), David Arquette (Father Jacob), Veronica Ferres (Sarah Dove), Ethan Peck (Sam Scarborough), Katrina Bowden (Julia, sex worker), Tim Daly (Isaac Broadway), Q’orianka Kilcher (Running Club); Runtime: 95; MPAA Rating: R; producers: Jeanne Allgood, Carter Boehm, Kellie Brooks, Michele Gray, Richard Gray, Cameron Lessard; Roadside Attractions; 2024)
“The story was lackluster.”
Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz
The Aussie Richard Gray (“Robert the Bruce”/”Murder at Yellowstone City”) directs this formulaic revenge Western. It’s written by Lee Zachariah. The generic western is contrived, cliche-ridden, convoluted and has more talk than action. Its two big stars, Samuel J. Jackson and Pierce Brosnan, are senior citizens in their 70s, who try to liven things up but the material they are saddled with is not good enough.
It’s set in 1888, on the western frontier. The young and naive Henry Broadway (Brandon Lessard) witnesses his estranged father Isaac (Tim Daly) hanged in prison for a crime he says he didn’t do. The isolated and remote small town of Trinity, Montana, which was founded by Isaac, is the place where dad says he was framed for murder by the corrupt sheriff, Saul Butler. Henry rides there to carry out dad’s death wish for him to murder the sheriff in revenge.
On the trail to Trinity, Henry meets the fast-talking, enigmatic drifter St. Christopher (Samuel J. Jackson), the film’s villain, who shows an unusual interest in him.
In Trinity, Henry learns that Butler is dead. The Blackfoot native woman Running Club (Q’orianka Kilcher) was framed for the murder and flees to the hills from a lynch mob. The town’s new Irish accented sheriff, Gabriel Dove (Pierce Brosnan), a good guy, tries to protect her. He also advises Henry to leave town immediately. But Henry stays that night and gets into trouble at the town brothel with some bad-ass brothers, who kill a prostitute (Katrina Bowden). He’s rescued by the protective and mysterious St. Christopher, who tells Henry he’s an ex-slave and a crime partner with his conman father. He offers Henry his father’s share of the gold they stole that Isaac hid somewhere in Trinity, if he can find it.
Gideon (Gianni Capaldi) comes to Trinity to avenge the death of the crooked but beloved late sheriff. Also arriving is the short-lived fake priest Father Jacob (David Arquette).
The only things worth any beans about this tasteless Western is the gorgeous landscape shots of Montana and that it’s filmed in the style of an oldie oater.
Its negatives are that the story had no hero figure to look up to, the action scenes were not smoothly executed and the story was lackluster. But the western music composed by the father and son team of Marco and Tristan Beltrami was okay, and Veronica Ferres does well in a small role as the wife of Sheriff Gabriel.
It played at the Zurich Film Festival.
REVIEWED ON 8/28/2025 GRADE: C
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