The Stolen (2017) - Once Upon a Time in a Western

Alice Eve plays Charlotte Lockton, a lovely young upper-class lady from England who finds herself living on a farm in New Zealand because that’s always been her husband’s dream.

That dream is shattered one night when two men hired to help build the ranch instead rob the Locktons. By the time the encounter ends, Charlotte’s husband is dead and her three-month-old son has been kidnapped.

Police are unable to solve the crime, but Charlotte eventually gets a ransom note that she traces back to Goldtown, a remote mining village. So it’s off to Goldtown she heads

She embarks on the journey despite lacking the frontier skills or savvy she’ll need to survive. She picks some of those up along the way, from a trail guide named Bully and from the three whores – Heather, Flamenco and Honey – with whom she’s traveling.

Once she arrives in Goldtown, she takes up a room in the saloon, where she’s expected to peddle drinks and entertain just like her three colleagues. And she locates her son. Rescuing him might be another matter.

Review:

The film is set in New Zealand, but it’s as Western as you get, especially once Charlotte heads off on the quest to retrieve her son. There’s even a teach-them-how-to-shoot segment with Bully as the teacher and Charlotte and the whores as his pupils.

So we get some great New Zealand scenery, some sudden bursts of violence, some decent acting and a film that’s better than most of the shoestring budget Westerns being made in America these days.

But the film is also pretty predictable, there are some soap opera-ish touches once our heroine reaches Goldtown and she winds up finding her son with remarkable ease, all the while avoiding some of the hardships one would expect her to endure.

Jack Davenport plays Joshua McCullin, the hotel owner for whom Charlotte winds up working; Richard O’Brien plays Mr. Russell, the man who manages the premises; and Cohen Holloway plays Hunter, the man who enforces McCullen’s will.

Alice Eve as Charlotte Lockton in The Stolen (2017)

Jack Davenport as Joshua McCullen with Alice Eve as Charlotte Lockton in The Stolen (2017)

Directed by:
Naill Johnson

Cast:
Alice Eve … Charlotte Lockton
Jack Davenport … Joshua McCullen
Graham McTavish … Bully
Richard O’Brien … Mr. Russell
Cohen Holloway … Hunter
Glen Levy … Bandit
Mikaela Ruegg … Flamenco
Gillian MacGregor … Heather
Stan Walker … Matai
Stig Eldred … Klaus
Lukas Hinch … David Lockton
Emily Corcoran … Honey

Runtime: 98 min.

Cohen Holloway as Hunter in The Stolen (2017)

Richard O’Brien as Mr. Russell in The Stolen (2017)

Memorable lines:

David Lockton, after Charlotte’s half-hearted attempt to learn to shoot: “You have to be prepared for life out here, darling.”
Charlotte Lockton: “I am prepared. I pulled the trigger.”

Heather, when the traveling party comes across a dead man: “We should bury him.”
Wagon driver: “Waste of time. Birds gotta eat. Same as worms.”

Mr. Johnson: “I trust your journey treated you well.”
Honey: “It was shit.”
Mr. Johnson: “Let’s hope that your stay with us proves just the opposite.”

Graam McTavish as Bully in The Stolen (2017)

Mikaela Ruegg as Flamenco, Gillian MacGregor as Heather and Emily Corcoran as Honey in The Stolen (2017)

Honey, negotiating percentages upon reaching Gold Town: “Twenty percent or I glue my bloomers to my ass.”

Mr. Johnson to Charlotte: “You want a bed. You want a nice roof over your head. They’ll be fires to keep you warm. Then you do what the other girlies are doing that you rode in with. Either up on the stage. Or flat on your back. Cause it’s either that or you is out the door and you don’t come back.”

Joshua McCullen: “We try to make a way for ourselves, but it’s hard. Happiness finds a way though.”
Charlotte: “I pray for it every night.”