Sometimes an actor and genre just seem right for each other. The Western, newly-resurgent on the big screen, and Michael Fassbender have that star-crossed feel. The new trailer for Slow West sees everyone’s favourite Irish/German acting talent in grizzled action in the badlands of late 19th century America.
A classic Old West origin yarn, the story sees Kodi Smit-McPhee’s Jay Cavendish journey from Scotland to the new American frontier in the late 19th century to find the girl he loves, picking up mysterious "chaperone” Silas (Fassbender) along the way.
On this evidence, Fassbender’s character looks a little too enigmatic to pin down to the genre’s tradition black hat/white hat categories. What’s his motivation for attaching himself to the young Scotsman? Can he prevent Ben Mendelsohn’s gnarled villain from inflicting mortal mischief on Rose? And what’s going on with his head in this new poster? It’s the surprising but - if festival word of mouth is anything to go by - impressive debut movie by The Beta Band's John Maclean. Slow West gets a release in the UK on June 26.