American Origin Story
At the dawn of America takes us into a unique period in American history, in 1857. Four years before the outbreak of the Civil War, the Conquest of the West was gradually coming to an end and tensions were innumerable between the different parties. The series already adds a little twist to the traditional clash between cowboys and Indians with the presence of Mormons, seeking to free themselves from the influence of the federal state.
We therefore follow a varied gallery of characters through the wild immensity of this nascent Americawhere everyone tries to find a place in the blood. The series uses these large, still inhospitable spaces quite cleverly to build its almost permanent suspense, with a danger that can occur at any time and from anywhere.
The ultra-violence of the whole thing was one of the big arguments promotional products from Netflix, clearly wishing to differentiate themselves from Yellowstone at this level. And it must be said thatAt the dawn of America succeeds on this point, with a surge of omnipresent graphic brutalitymaking this world realistic and visceral.
As such, the series operates a fairly relevant approach through these spurts of bloodoverturning the usual paradigm of the Epinal image of classic westerns. Here, heroes and enemies alike come to commit the worst atrocities to get by, and the rare moments of humanity are often quickly swept away by the barbarity of this merciless world.
The Redundant
Obviously, the presence in the script of Mark L. Smith, who had co-written The Revenant next to Alexander G. Iñárritupartly explains the sticky and brutal tone of the series. The problem is that by being used excessively, this violence quickly becomes banal and, above all, the main source of emotion in the story. therefore sounds hopelessly empty and bland.
Peter Berg’s direction is not very inspiredand we quickly stop counting the number of ambushes filmed and set up in exactly the same way, night or day, with arrows or rifle bullets, always with a crude and predictable effect of surprise. Unfortunately, At the dawn of America turns quickly in circlesand falls into a false rhythm of deep boredom.
In addition, the photography orchestrated by Frenchman Jacques Jouffret is quite dull and struggles to highlight the settings of the series. This is probably a voluntary note of intention, which is part of the desire to present an inhospitable and morally gray universe, but it contributes above all to the lack of vitality of the whole.
By focusing on how to make its moments of violence as realistic as possible, the series fails to elevate its characters, despite an intriguing base. And if it sometimes works brilliantly (the first attack in the series is a real success), this strategy also requires letting go of emotion in moments that deserved it. This redundancy prevents you from really getting invested in the story and the characters, which makes the viewing more tiring than gripping (which seemed to be the objective).
Conquering… far too much
At the dawn of America would probably have benefited from being much tighter in its structure. The series has an excellent cast, with several familiar faces getting the opportunity to shine. This choral ensemble offers a host of characters to the screenwriter, but their relationships seem so disjointed thatit is difficult to always grasp their importance throughout the storythe conclusion of their narrative arc often being much more important than how they got there (the character of Dane DeHaan for example).
We will greet the powerful duo led by Betty Gilpin (always formidable with dignity) and Taylor Kitsch (always nice to see again), but we regret that their road trip quickly becomes boring with adventures following more or less the same progression. Furthermore, the two characters are undeniably the emotional heart of the series, but again, At the dawn of America stomps to make their journey engagingdespite a real improvement in the last episodes.
On the contrary, some secondary characters are the real hidden gems of the seriesbut she doesn’t really seem interested in it, or doesn’t know what to do with it. We will mention the brilliant Shea Whighamin a role that gradually gains depth, or the army captain played by Lucas Neff, surprisingly tragic. Moreover, despite invested and talented actors, At the dawn of America leaves the unpleasant impression of disorganized mess that looks like a good nap.
There is undoubtedly somewhere in the series a nice 2 hour westernwith fewer characters and rarer and more impactful outbursts of violence. A frustrating observation, because Netflix’s idea of presenting the excesses of these nascent United States in this lightbetween culture wars and massacres of indigenous populations, was really good, especially given the current American context. Rather, we come away from these six episodes with the idea that we have wasted time to a reward that isn’t even really satisfying.
At the Dawn of America is available in full on Netflix since January 9, 2025.
