American Primeval (2025)

Betty Gilpin is Sara Rowell, heading West with her son Devin for a new life in Crooked Springs, Utah, where his father lives.

It’s going to be a rough trip through a rough territory, locked in conflict between the Native Americans, the Mormons and U.S. government.

And she’s going to need a capable guide.

But she arrives at Fort Bridger three weeks late and learns her guide has already left. No one else is willing to take the job.

So she decides to travel along with a small group of Mormon families, including newly married Jacob Pratt (Dane DeHann) and his wife Abish (Saura Lightfoot-Leon).

The Pratts have an agreement to travel West as part of a non-Mormon wagon train. The wagon train boss defies a demand from the Mormon militia that they turn around and head back East, that they aren’t welcome in Utah.

Turns out, they won’t be there long. The wagon train comes under attack by a mixed band of Paiute Indians and hooded white men. Few survive.

Abish is among them, taken captive by the Paiutes. So is Jacob, though he’s scalped alive. So are Sara and her son, who dash off, accompanied by a mute runaway Indian girl named Two Moons (Shawnee Pourier).

That trio winds up being saved by Isaac Reed (Taylor Kitsch). He’s ultimately convinced to help them reach Crooked Springs.

What he doesn’t know is that Sara Rowell is really Sara Holloway, a woman who killed a man in self-defense back in Philadelphia.

Self-defense or not, there’s a $1,500 bounty on her head. Just the “gold” for which some cutthroats would kill.

Review:

Gritty, violent, filled with fine performances and must-see viewing for fans of the genre.

There’s so much violence in episode one that it’s a bit off-putting. During the wagon train attack, arrows whiz around as through propelled by a rocket launcher, claiming one victim after another.

Combined with the constant peril faced by Sara and her son and Isaac Reed defying death time and time again — well, you might have doubts about investing more than five hours of viewing time in the series.

Stick with it. You’ll be rewarded. The series settles down into three story lines, all well told, all compelling. So much so that you won’t want to stop watching once you’re invested in the characters.

Those story lines? There’s Abish’s struggle for survival as an Indian captive and Jacob’s quest to find his wife. There’s the Mormons’ desire to control Utah, and the willingness of their leaders to use any godless means necessary to accomplish that goal.

And the main storyline is Sara’s determined journey, willing to do anything to protect her son, and protected in turn by Isaac Reed.

In a series filled with fine performances, Shea Whigham is a delight as Jim Bridger. And Shawnee Pourier manages to portray one of the most endearing characters (Two Moons) without ever saying a word.

Directed by:
Peter Berg

Cast:
Taylor Kitsch … Isaac Reed
Betty Gilpin … Sara Rowell
Preston Mota … Devin Rowell
Shawnee Pourier as Two Moons
Dane DeHaan … Jacob Pratt
Saura Lightfoot-Leon … Abish Pratt
Derek Hinkey … Red Feather
Irene Bedard … Winter Bird
Nanabah Grace … Kuttaambo’i
Lily Joy Winder … My Heart
Shea Whigham … Jim Bridger
Kim Coates … Brigham Young
Joe Tippett … James Wolsey
Alex Breaux … Wild Bill Hickman
Dominic Bogart … Frank Cook
Jai Courtney … Virgil Cutter
Andrew P. Logan … Lucas
Lucas Neff … Army Captain
Bodhi Rader … Lt. O’Malley

Runtime: 299 min.

Memorable lines:

Devin Rowell: “Do we know where we are?”
Sara Rowell: “Some place in Missouri.”
Devin: “Sure doesn’t look like Philadelphia.”
Sara: “That’s a good thing.”

Devin Rowell, as their journey West continues: “What do you think’s out there?”
Sara, his mother: “Your father.”

Jim Bridger: “Civilization and civilized are two different words entirely, Mrs. Rowell. I might suggest you head back to Boston, where you’ll find more of each.”

Sara Rowell: “This doesn’t seem to be a world that favors a woman on her own.”
Abish Pratt: “That’s why we get married. Isn’t it?”

Jim Bridger to Jacob Pratt, eager to begin the search for his wife: “Son, Jesus Christ himself could not gather a handful of these men to track down his own sweet virgin momma. Do not fool yourself into thinking otherwise.”

Brigham Young: “We don’t allow brothels in Salt Lake City.”
Jim Bridger: “Don’t see why you would. What was the last head count I heard on your wives, governor? Twenty-two?”

Abish Pratt to a Shoshone leader: “Your god tells you to kill the whites? Whites believe their god tells them to kill you. Perhaps the gods are playing a game with all of us to see who can kill the most.”

John Bridger, watching Brigham Young approach: “Here he comes. All smiles and Jesus. Hoping I won’t notice the concurrent twist he’s tryin’ to give my balls.”

Isaac Reed: “It turns out there’s no such thing as safe in this world. And no god or creator to ask for help or to answer to when you need it most.”
Sara Rowell: “Isaac, do you really believe that?”
Isaac Reed: “I know it.”

Brigham Young: “When evil comes knocking, you lock the door.”
Jim Bridger: “And hope it ain’t already got inside with you.”

Isaac Reed to Sara: “I know how to survive out here. Alone.”

Andrew P. Logan as Lucas, Virgil’s more tender-hearted bounty hunting companion in American Primeval (2025)

Joe Tippett as James Wolsey, blood thirsty leader of the Mormon militia in American Primeval (2025)