It’s probably not the sister you remember.

The Thicket is an interesting film and not because I spent the first ten minutes writing “The Thickest” on this review. Directed by Elliot Lester (Blitz) and written by Chris Kelley, The Thicket is based on a 2013 novel titled The Thicket, go figure, written by Joe R. Lansdale. It is a western film in a genre covered in crappy movies by the thousands. But can a Tubi original western film be good? In 2024? Probably.

It stars Levon Hawke as Jack Parker, a man on a mission to rescue his sister Lula (Esmé Creed-Miles) from the grips of evil no-goodnik Cut Throat Bill (Juliette Lewis). But Cut Throat Bill is at an advantage because nobody really knows that she is in fact a woman. So she goes from town to town with her entourage doing crimes and shit and killing people. And kidnapping pretty redheads like Lula.

Jack partners up with Eustace Howard (Gbenga Akinnagbe) and Reginald Jones (Peter Dinklage), a bounty hunter and his assistant, in order to track down Cut Throat Billy, save Lula, and claim a $10,000 bounty on her head. I really started to like the character of Cut Throat Billy as the movie went on. There’s a great moment where Lula is about to be assaulted by Billy’s gang, and she comes out and beats the shit out of them, then lays down with Lula and holds her to keep her safe.

Leslie Grace plays Jimmy Sue, a prostitute with Andrew Schulz as the proprietor of the house. Jack decides he’s going to save Jimmy Sue from her life of sex work. Turns out Jimmy Sue can help find Cut Throat Billy. Reginald meanwhile is being hunted down by Hector (James Hetfield) and Malachi (Macon Blair) after Reginald attacks their boss over two dollars for a burial fee.

The big question of the movie becomes; what does Cut Throat Billy want with Lula? Where is Lula being taken and what is going to happen to her when she gets there? Billy keeps saying she’s taking Lula “home” but what exactly does that mean? What is The Thicket? What do they do there? Do you think they have licorice? Delicious delicious licorice.

Is Peter Dinklage willing to shoot a woman? Of course he is. Look at his beard. This movie was Peter Dinklage’s passion project, having been attached all the way back ten years ago when production first started. You can tell when Peter Dinklage cares versus when he’s phoning it in and he definitely isn’t phoning this in. The cast are all pretty great in their own way.

Ultimately The Thicket is a by the numbers western story that won’t surprise anyone, and I question if it justifies the hour and forty five minute runtime. But that being said, it wasn’t as bad as many of the other westerns we’ve seen come through Tubi. This was a theatrical film that just happened to get Tubi funding.

Rating: B+