The Duel (2016 film)

The Duel is a 2016 American western film directed by Kieran Darcy-Smith and written by Matt Cook. The film stars Liam Hemsworth, Emory Cohen, Woody Harrelson and Alice Braga. The film was released for limited release and video on demand on June 24, 2016, by Lionsgate Premiere. It was released on DVD and Blu-Ray on August 23, 2016.

Plot
On the Texas border, in 1887, Texas Ranger David Kingston is sent by Governor “Sul” Ross to the isolated town of Mount Hermon. David is to investigate a series of murders and disappearances of Mexican citizens, in particular to search for Maria Calderon, the missing niece of a Mexican general who is threatening to invade to find her. In the town, preacher and mayor Abraham Brant – the man who killed David’s father in a ”Helena Duel” knife fight in 1866 – is keeping all the townsfolk in some kind of fearful grip. When David arrives in town, the townsfolk act cold and hostile towards him, with the exception of Abraham, who is smitten by David's wife, Marisol.

David hides his identity and purpose from Abraham, instead giving the disguise of a wandering traveler. Abraham offers David the role of becoming the town sheriff, which David hesitantly accepts, hoping the position will cover him long enough to carry out his real investigation.

While David explores the town and investigates the nearby Rio Grande for bodies, Abraham manipulates a weak-spirited Marisol into becoming dependent on him. Marisol becomes Abraham’s willing consort, betraying all of David’s secrets. David eventually learns Abraham’s secret - that he is abducting Mexicans to serve as prey for rich foreigners to hunt.

Abraham arranges a ”Helena Duel” knife fight between his son Isaac and David, with David badly wounded before he kills Isaac. David escapes, then frees a number of captured Mexicans from the remote prison compound, including Maria Calderon. Suffering from his knife wounds, David manages to shoot Abraham while near the isolated compound, then pins Abraham’s leg under a boulder. When David passes out, Abraham cuts his own leg off and crawls to David. As he is about to cut David’s throat, Maria reappears and shoots Abraham dead.

David dumps Abraham’s body in the Rio Grande near the dead scalped Mexican woman. The Mexican general is grateful to David for getting Maria back. David is last seen riding off into the brush alone, staring up at the treen where Naomi was hanged from earlier. Maybe he's searching the area for clues of his wife Marisol.

Cast

 * Woody Harrelson as Abraham
 * Liam Hemsworth as David Kingston
 * Alice Braga as Marisol
 * Emory Cohen as Isaac
 * Felicity Price as Naomi (the prostitute at Hoot’s)
 * William Sadler as Governor Ross
 * Benedict Samuel as George (the Brit)
 * Giles Matthey as John
 * Raphael Sbarge as Dr. Morris
 * Jason Carter as William
 * David Born as Hoot (the barkeep)
 * Kimberly Hidalgo as Maria
 * José Zúñiga as General Calderon

Production
On September 28, 2012, Kieran Darcy-Smith was set to direct the Helena, Texas set western film (only briefly “appears” in the final film, set instead in the fictional Mount Hermon) based on Matt Cook's 2009 Black Listed script, which David Hoberman and Todd Lieberman were announced to produce for their Mandeville Films.

During 2014, a number of actors were attached to the film. On July 1, it was announced that Liam Hemsworth and Woody Harrelson would be starring in the lead roles of David Kingston and Abraham Brant, with the film then titled By Way of Helena. On August 29, Felicity Price was added to the cast. On September 5, William Hurt and Alice Braga joined the cast, and WestEnd Films was attached as handling international sales. (While Hurt was still reported as being in the film as late as an April 2016 article when the trailer was released online, and a June 2016 review showing him as playing Governor Ross, he does not actually appear – nor is he credited – in the final release.) Adam Rosenfelt and Maureen Meulen would finance the film and co-produce through their Atomic Entertainment. On October 2, Emory Cohen was added to the film to play Isaac. On October 9, Benedict Samuel joined the film to play Brit (renamed George in the final film, a British character) who visits the town with his father and brother to participate in the preacher's notorious manhunts.

Nicholas Hoult, Joel Edgerton and Jamie Bell were once attached to star in the film in 2013.

Filming
The filming began on September 15, 2014, in Greenwood, Mississippi. The shooting mostly took place at the former Florewood State Park, which was transformed into an Old West frontier town.

Critical response
On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, The Duel has an approval rating of 19%, based on 16 reviews, with a weighted average score of 4.8/10. On Metacritic, the film has a score of 42 out of 100, based on 9 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".