News of the World (2020) - Inspiring hope in rough times - 8/10 (25/02/21)

News of the World is an emotional western drama set only just after the conclusion of the devastating Civil War. Veteran Captain Kidd has lost his wife to a disease while being at the front line. He tries to escape his grim past by traveling through the country and reading newspapers to citizens in order to inspire change and hope. One day, he comes across a carriage that has been knocked over. The driver has been brutally murdered and the only survivor is a young girl who doesn't speak English. Captain Kidd discovers that her name is Johanna and that she got kidnapped by the Kiowa as a child when they murdered her entire family. She has spent most of her childhood with the Kiowa and her identity is much closer to Native American culture than to her German origins. Captain Kidd plans on bringing her to her aunt, uncle and cousins but the two protagonists have to travel through the entire state of Texas for about six weeks to get there. On their challenging journey, they come across human traffickers and radical militia and must face carriage accidents and sandstorms.

This wonderful western convinces on numerous levels. First of all, the characters are truly intriguing with the grieving, kind-hearted and well-mannered captain and the wild, lost and intelligent child. The acting performances by Tom Hanks and Helena Zengel are absolutely outstanding and would certainly deserve Academy Awards nominations. The different segments of the movie are truly intriguing as well as the protagonists come across hateful and helpful characters and face beautiful and dangerous natural phenomenons. The locations have been chosen with care and bring the war beauty of the Wild West to life in an authentic way. The camera work is calm and precise, the sound effects are immersive and intense and the soundtrack underlines the movie's atmosphere perfectly.

Even though the movie might have a few minor lengths here and there, News of the World is one of the greatest contemporary westerns in recent memory. The excellent acting performances, profound characters and diversified plot shouldn't only please genre fans but anyone craving for a heartfelt drama with some tense action scenes. This movie hasn't received the attention it deserves due to the pandemic, so make sure to watch it once cinemas in your region are reopening. While Tom Hanks confirms his status as one of the greatest actors of all time, News of the World is also the breakthrough performance for young German actress Helena Zengel who will hopefully be casted for further Hollywood movies instead of wasting her precious talent on sleep-inducing German televison movies.