In “The Horse Whisperer,” a young girl, Grace (Scarlett Johansson), endures a tragic horse-riding accident that leaves her with an amputated leg and her horse, Pilgrim, with severe behavioral problems. To help Grace and Pilgrim heal, her mother (Kristin Scott Thomas) enlists the help of Tom Booker, otherwise known as the “horse whisperer,” to help rehabilitate the two.
Over the course of the film, Booker works through Grace’s pain and fear to help both her and Pilgrim heal.
Blackthorn (Mateo Gil, 2011)
"Blackthorn" follows an older Butch Cassidy (Sam Shepard) who now goes by the alias James Blackthorn. Having been hiding out in Bolivia, Blackthorn decides to return to the U.S., but on his way out of Bolivia, he is almost killed by Eduardo Apodaca (Eduardo Noriega).
The two actually become partners with Apodaca offering to share the $50,000 he stole from a local mine owner. The pair spend the rest of the film narrowly escaping from gang members who are in pursuit of Apodaca. The entire film becomes a sort of reminiscence for Blackthorn as he looks back on his past as Butch Cassidy.
In The Valley of Violence (Ti West, 2016)
"In The Valley of Violence" is actually considered a remake of the film "High Plains Drifter." In the film, Paul (Ethan Hawke) and his dog are wandering through Mexico when they are held at gunpoint by a priest ( Burn Gorman).
Paul has his dog attack the priest, he takes the priest’s gun, and canteen and the two continue on into town. The rest of the film chronicles the strange, violent situations that surround the mysterious Paul as he encounters the townspeople.
Hostiles (Scott Cooper, 2017)
Set in the late 1800s, "Hostiles" follows army captain Joseph Blocker (Christian Bale) as he escorts Cheyenne chief Yellow Hawk (Wes Studi), who is dying of cancer, and his family back to their land in Montana. The history between the two men is complicated as Yellow Hawk had killed a number of Blocker’s friends.
While the film, of course, has the usual elements of a western, the story also explores the deep wounds between white settlers and Native Americans and the possibility of reconciliation.
The Keeping Room (Daniel Barber, 2014)
The "Keeping Room" was a unique plotline for a genre that is typically centered on male characters. In the story, three southern women (two white sisters and an African American slave) fight for their survival in the final days of the American Civil War.
As the three learn to rely on each other, a bond is formed, and racial barriers are overcome as they fight off Union soldiers and venture into the uncertainty of a post-Civil War world.