In 1909 California, two young Chemehuevi Indians — Willie Boy (Martin Sensmeier) and Carlotta (Mainel Kinimaka) — fall in love.
Carlotta’s father William Johnson forbids them from seeing one another. After all, they are distant cousins.
Carlotta’s mother Maria is more understanding, noting the small size of the tribe and the limited romantic options for her daughter.
Still, William’s will prevails, at least momentarily.
When Carlotta defies her father and sneaks off for a late-night meeting with Willie Boy, William tracks them down.
In the ensuing struggle, a gunshot rings out. William Johnson falls dead. Willie Boy, knowing he’ll be blamed, heads for the hills, Carlotta in tow.
Realizing a famed Indian tracker named John Hyde, good friends with her husband, will track Willie Boy down and kill him, Maria asks the local law to intervene.
So Sheriff Wilson (Christian Camargo) organizes a posse and sets out in pursuit, of Willie Boy and Carlotta and the two native American trackers hot on his heels.
Having taken to the bottle because he’s haunted by his own wife’s death, the sheriff intends to bring Willie Boy back alive.
That’s not the ending John Hyde has in mind.
Martin Sensmeier as WIllie Boy, about to be separated from Carlotta for the first time in The Last Manhunt (2022)
Mainel Kinimaka as Carlotta, missing Willie Boy after her father separate them in The Last Manhunt (2022)
Review:
An absolute muddled mess of a movie, and in the film’s failure lies a delicious irony.
A newspaper reporter who wants to tag along with the posse tells one of its members that the story he wants to tell already has a villain. He needs a hero to make it work.
Just like this film needed someone for viewers to care about.
The likely candidates would be Willie Boy, the newspaperman’s villain, and his pretty young lover Carlotta.
Problem is, the script forgets to tell us what drew them together in a bond so tight that they’re willing to risk their lives to stay together. Heck, they barely speak to one another over the course of the film.
They occasionally gaze at one another. They occasionally embrace. Good luck getting a deeper read into their expressions. Because for all the wonderful scenery of the Joshua Tree area in the film, there’s also an incredibly annoying habit of backlighting the characters.
So that’s about all we know about Willie Boy and Carlotta. We learn a bit more about some members of the posse, who accuse the Indian trackers to trying to cheat them out of their prey and bicker a bunch among themselves.
And, in the course of all that bickering and general incompetence, they make the fact that Willie Boy eluded them for 26 days seem not that heroic a feat after all.
Here’s guessing that wasn’t the filmmakers’ intent.
Christian Camargo as Sheriff Wilson, on the trail of Willie Boy in The Last Manhunt (2022)
Raoul Max Trujillo as John Hyde, the Indian tracker determined to find Willie Boy in The Last Manhunt (2022)
Directed by:
Christian Camargo
Cast:
Martin Sensmeier … WIllie Boy
Mainel Kinimaka … Carlotta
Zahn McClarnon … William Johnson
Lily Gladstone … Maria
Raoul Max Trujillo … John Hyde
Brandon Oakes … Segundo
Christian Camargo … Sheriff Wilson
Wade Williams … Reche
Jamie Sives … Ben
Justin Campbell … Toutain
Mojean Aria … Randolph
Amy Seimetz … Clara True
Charlie Brumbly … Knowlin
Runtime: 103 min.
Zahn McClarnon as William Johnson, the father who forbids Carlotta from seeing Willie Boy in The Last Manhunt (2022)
Lily Gladstone as Maria, encouraging white man’s law to hunt down WIllie Boy and her daughter in The Last Manhunt (2022)
Memorable lines:
Posse member, of two Indian trackers: “Do they know something we don’t?”
Sheriff Wilson: “I hope so.”
Posse member, when they reach what was supposed to be a pond: “Where’s the water?”
Hyde, an Indian tracker: “Desert drank it up.”
Newspaperman Randolph: “Willie Boy’s going to be everyone’s worst nightmare. Fear really is the best kind of candy.”
Newspaperman Randolph to Ben: “You gave us a great villain in Willie Boy. But who’s the hero?”
Hyde, an Indian tracker, to the sheriff: “I will find him. And you’re welcome to every piece of him when I’m done.”
Hyde to the sheriff: “You’ve had your fill of death. I can see it in your eyes. Spell it on you.”
Mojean Aria as Randolph, a newspaper reporter all to willing to sensationalize the story of Willie Boy in The Last Manhunt (2022)
Jason Mamoa as Big Jim, offering his opinion on what happened to Willie Boy in The Last Manhunt (2022)
Amy Seimetz as Clara True, a white woman helping the reservation Indians in The Last Manhunt (2022)
Brandon Oakes as Segundo, the Indian tracker more sympathetic to Willie Boy in The Last Manhunt (2022)
Mainel Kinimaka as Carlotta, the young woman who runs off with Willie Boy in The Last Manhunt (2022)
Martin Sensmeier as Willie Boy, on the run from the posse in The Last Manhunt (2022)
){kind=link}