Review At the Dawn of America (Netflix): a brutal western that will not leave you indifferent

The co-writer of The RevenantMark L. Smith, returns to the western with a new limited series for the streaming platform Netflix, which stars Taylor Kitsch (Painkiller) et Betty Gilpin (GLOW) in front of Peter Berg’s camera (Friday Night Lights). On the program, a brutal clash of cultures, religions and communities experienced by a gallery of characters fighting for a land that everyone wants to control.

The viewer then follows the arduous journey of these protagonists through wild landscapes, alternately arid and wintry, where danger is omnipresent. What is worth At the dawn of America ? Here is our review of this mini-series, guaranteed without spoilers.

The history of the series

America, 1857. Chaos reigns, suffering is everywhere. Innocence and tranquility are losing the battle to hatred and fear. Peace and grace only reach a minority and compassion has become a foreign feeling. In these lands of violence which offer no refuge, only one thing matters: survival.

Our review

In the America of this mini-series, everyone constantly wants to kill everyone. On the small screen, the wild west has never been more dangerous than in the last 10 years with series like Godless, The English or even Frontier. Indeed, the time of watered-down representations of the American West at the time of its expansion is well over, with the emphasis now being placed on its violence and harshness.

This is what we immediately notice in At the dawn of Americaa new mini-series that spares neither its characters nor its audience. Between scalping, execution and massacre, the fiction written by Mark L. Smith, who was already not in the lace in The Revenantis visceral and brutal.

Sublimated by cinematography of a beauty as cold as it is remarkable, the series presents its spectators with images that do not leave them indifferent and reinforce the intensity of the story told.

Throughout its six episodes, At the dawn of America develops endearing characters and gripping intrigues, despite some slowness here and there in the story and female figures lacking relief. However, we cannot deny that the series is a success, because its aesthetics, its writing and especially its distribution make it a frankly impactful modern western.

Taylor Kitsch (True Detective, Friday Night Lights) reminds us once again that he deserves to appear more often on our screens, while the directing style of Peter Berg (Painkiller, Ballers, Stalking Boston) works perfectly in an epic of this scale.

A bit demanding towards its audience, the series only reveals all its greatness when viewed as a whole, its success relying heavily on a conclusion which effectively ties up all its wagons to better reveal the emotional force of the whole.

Both violent and touching, merciless and realistic, At the dawn of America is a program whose effectiveness is based on careful production, thoughtful writing and well-interpreted characters. More than enough to start 2025 in style.

At the dawn of America can be discovered on Netflix from January 9, 2025.

• Watch the trailer for the series:

Conclusion

Overall rating