Organ Trail (2023)

Zoé De Grand Maison is Abby, a teenage girl traveling with her parents and older brother as they head to the valley to flee a winter storm in the Montana frontier.

While hunting during a rest stop, brother Tobias comes upon a grizzly discovery — a camp site along the Oregon Trail where dead bodies are piled in a heap.

There’s one survivor, a young woman named Cassidy (Olivia Grace Applegate) pinned to a deadfall by arrows shot through both of her hands.

Tobias and his father Abraham, a medic during the Civil War, rush Cassidy back to their own camp site where they tend to her wounds.

Then, during the night, four scavengers attack, killing Abby’s parents and brother, robbing the camp site of anything of value and taking Abby prisoner.

They haul her off to a ghost town where gang leader Logan (Sam Trammell) is using a former church as his headquarters, elaborately furnishing it with items stolen from other homesteaders.

His plans for Abby?

To use her just as he’s been using Cassidy, as his personal plaything between jobs. And as bait to be left along the Oregon Trail so his gang can target other families heading West.

Zoé De Grand Maison as Abby, setting out to rescue the only surviving member of her ‘family’ in Organ Trail (2023)

Olivia Grace Applegate as Cassidy, the much-abused captive of the outlaw gang in Organ Trail (2023)

Review:

Western fans are likely to be pleasantly surprised by this film, in terms of acting, cinematography, originality and story-telling.

There are surprising turns in that story as well, from the unlikely demise of one gang member to the way in which Abby escapes her tormentors.

Zoé De Grand Maison plays that lead role and turns in a credible performance. But the real standout here is Olivia Grace Applegate as the much-abused gang captive Cassidy, who struggles on even when most would have given up the fight.

Unfortunately, there’s a key plot point that doesn’t stand up to any degree of critical thinking. It has to do with who’s dispatched to find Abby once she’s escaped.

And having conjured up images of a horror film with a title like “Organ Trail,” the filmmakers seemingly felt compelled to deliver a horror ending. And they go way too over the top in doing so.

Still, fans of Westerns who aren’t too squeamish should give this one a chance. It’s currently streaming on Paramount+.

Sam Trammell as outlaw leader Logan, teaching Cassidy another brutal lesson in discipline and servitude in Organ Trail (2023)

Nicholas Logan as Rhys, a member of the outlaw gang, claiming he’s oblivious to pain in Organ Trail (2023)

Directed by:
Michael Patrick Jann

Cast:
Zoé De Grand Maison … Abby
Mather Zickel … Pa (Abraham)
Lisa LoCicero … Ma (Celeste)
Lukas Jann … Tobias
Olivia Grace Applegate … Cassidy
Sam Trammell … Logan
Nicholas Logan … Rhys
Michael Abbott Jr. … Brody
Alejandro Akara … Felix
Cle Bennett … Erik
Jessica Frances Dukes … Nora
Thomas Lennon … Royal Fitzgibbon

Runtime: 112 min.

Alejandro Akara as Felix, a member of the outlaw gang, offering Cassidy a pistol as she sets off to find Abby in Organ Trail (2023)

Michael Abbott Jr. as Brody, a member of the outlaw gang, being bullied by Rhys in Organ Trail (2023)

Memorable lines:

Brody, as he enters Logan’s headquarters: “Coming in. Ya’all decent.” He enters. “Ah, fuck. Y’all decent. I was hoping you’d be mid-orgy or some shit.”

Cassidy, as Logan makes it clear he intends to take Abby on their next job: “Put her on the trail, she’s gonna run.”
Logan: “She can’t outrun a bullet.”

Brody, as Abby breaks free and puts up a struggle: “Dammit. I’ve had enough of your girlish fuckery for one day. Stand down, or I don’t know what I’m liable to do.”

Erik, upon finding Abby: “Who you runnin’ from?”
Abby: “Devils!”

Cle Bennett as Erik, a rancher reluctantly helping Rhys track down a former captive of his gang in Organ Trail (2023)

Jessica Frances Dukes as Nora, watching her husband return from ice fishing with a half frozen girl in Organ Trail (2023)

Erik: “What do we do, ma?”
Nora, his pregnant wife: “Take her in. The Lord sent you to be her savior.”
Erik: “What if the devil sent her to be our demise?”
Nora: “Don’t be no fool.”

Cassidy, when Abby reveals her plans: “You’re going back to them fiends for a horse?”
Abby: “He’s the only family I got left.”
Cassidy: “That’s suicide.”
Abby: “Either way, I’ll end up with my family.”

Rhys: “Why don’t you carry a gun, rancher? You lose it?”
Erik: “In the war, I done pointed too many a gun at too many men. I just won’t do it no more.”
Rhys: “Well, that’s a pretty notion. Pretty fuckin’ stupid.”

Olivia Grace Applegate as Cassidy, found pinned to a tree by arrows shot through her hands in Organ Trail (2023)

Mather Zickel, Abby’s dad, a former Civil War medic, working on a girl found wounded along the trail in Organ Trail (2023)

Lukas Jann as Tobias, Abby’s brother, stumbling upon a grizzly scene along the trail in Organ Trail (2023)

Lisa LoCicero as Abby’s mother, providing encouragement to her well-intentioned husband in Organ Trail (2023)

Olivia Grace Applegate as Cassidy, unimpressed by Logan’s threat of lethal consequences in Organ Trail (2023)

Zoé De Grand Maison as Abby, being threatened by one of the gang members in Organ Trail (2023)