A Familiar Descent into Chaos
“If I can save you from doing what I had to… I'm going into that forest with you.”
That line, delivered with all the gravitas of a late-night Syfy original, sums up Forgive Us All—a film that seems content to retread well-worn post-apocalyptic tropes without adding anything new. The trailer, released by Samuel Goldwyn Films, promises a blend of neo-western grit and cannibal horror, but the result feels less like a fresh take and more like a checklist of genre clichés.
Set in a virus-ravaged New Zealand where survivors either turn into ravenous “Howlers” or fall prey to a totalitarian regime, the film follows Lily Sullivan (Evil Dead Rise) as a reclusive woman forced to team up with a mysterious drifter (Lance Giles) to escape a forest crawling with flesh-eaters. The premise isn't inherently flawed—there's potential in the collision of western survivalism and body horror—but the execution, at least from the trailer, feels over-stylized and derivative.
Why This Feels Like Déjà Vu
Post-apocalyptic cannibal stories aren't new. The Road, The Walking Dead, and The Book of Eli have all explored the idea of humanity stripped down to its most desperate, violent core. Even Bone Tomahawk and Ravenous have already married western aesthetics with cannibal horror to far more chilling effect. Forgive Us All doesn't seem to bring anything fresh to the table—just another tale of grim survival, shaky alliances, and gore.
The trailer's most glaring issue? A lack of identity. The cinematography leans into moody, desaturated tones (because of course it does), and the action beats feel recycled from a dozen other dystopian thrillers. Even the casting, while solid (Richard Roxburgh and Callan Mulvey add some heft), can't elevate what looks like a paint-by-numbers script.
A Director's Debut—But Will Anyone Notice?
Jordana Stott makes her feature debut here, and while there's always promise in new voices, Forgive Us All doesn't scream “visionary first effort.” Instead, it feels like the kind of mid-budget genre flick that gets quietly dumped onto VOD—which, incidentally, is exactly what's happening. Samuel Goldwyn Films will release it digitally on July 11, 2025, bypassing theaters entirely.
That's not always a death sentence (some gems thrive in the direct-to-streaming space), but the lack of festival buzz or early reviews suggests this one might slip through the cracks.
Final Thought: Skip or Gamble?
If you're starving for a cannibal western and have exhausted the classics, Forgive Us All might scratch that itch—but don't expect surprises. The trailer offers nothing we haven't seen before, and in a genre that thrives on shock and originality, that's a fatal flaw.
Or maybe I'm wrong. Maybe Stott's film subverts expectations in ways the marketing doesn't reveal. But with so many better options out there, why take the risk?
