Most new releases on Netflix come out at the start of the month, but November has thrown a spanner in the works.

Credit: Netflix

That's because today brought with it the seven-episode limited series Godless, a dark Western revenge tale created by Academy Award and Golden Globe-nominated screenwriter and director Scott Frank, Academy Award-winner Steven Soderbergh, and executive producer Casey Silver.

Advert

It takes place in the run-down, isolated and female-led mining town of La Belle, New Mexico, where Roy Goode (Jack O'Connell) has sought refuge from a gang of criminal outlaws. Carnage obviously ensues, but it's the quality of the carnage that has all the critics raving.

It starts with a traditional Western scene - an injured rider getting into town on horseback - but it seems that Godless has transcended the trappings and clichés of usual Western fare.

At least, it has according to all the people paid to talk about that stuff.

Advert

Vulture said that "Godless is so good, you'll like it even if you don't like westerns." The review went on to say even better things, too.

It read: "Replete with gorgeously infinite landscapes and so many fascinating characters that you'll change your mind every five minutes about which one is your favourite, Godless is a wonderfully modern addition to the genre that's simultaneously classic and traditional in all the right ways."

USA Today were firing out the LOLs in their appraisal, writing: "It may be a simple story of good versus evil, but there's a reason that formula works. And good Godless, it works here." Banter merchants.

Advert

And IndieWire was impressed by the performances of, well, pretty much the entire cast.

They wrote: "Yes, Mary Agnes is a breath of fresh air every time her cut-to-the-chase persona moseys on screen, and yes, Wever - the Emmy-winning star of 'Nurse Jackie' - is stupendous in the role. But so is the rest of the cast, including Michelle Dockery, Jack O'Connell, Scoot McNairy, and Emmy-winner Jeff Daniels, all of whom build their characters over longer periods of time."