The 2010s saw a renaissance of the Western genre, with filmmakers pushing its boundaries and offering a diverse range of stories. These weren’t the formulaic shootouts or heroic cowboys that audiences had come to expect.

Instead, the decade introduced Westerns that were gritty, introspective, and daring—sometimes blending genres, other times reinventing the conventions of the form. If you missed them, it’s time to take another look. These films aren’t just entertaining—they’ll make you rethink the possibilities of the Western genre itself.

When you think of the Outback, you probably envision vast deserts and rugged terrain. What Mystery Road brings to the table, however, is a chillingly atmospheric portrayal of isolation and corruption, grounded in the stark beauty of Australia’s landscape. This is a neo-Western in every sense of the word, a slow-burning thriller that examines racial tensions, societal decay, and the kind of raw human emotion that is often absent in more action-packed Westerns.

Aaron Pedersen plays Jay Swan, a detective who returns to his hometown to investigate the murder of a young Indigenous girl. What follows is not just a crime drama, but a rumination on the complexity of identity, the legacy of colonialism, and the moral compromises people are forced to make when faced with brutal realities.