Forsaken (2016 film)

Synopsis

In 1872, after abandoning his gun and reputation as a quick-draw killer, John Henry Clayton (Kiefer Sutherland) returns to his hometown in hopes of repairing his relationship with his estranged father (Donald Sutherland). But a local gang on the orders of James McCurdy (Brian Cox) is terrorizing the town, and John Henry may be the only one who can stop them.

Production

Kiefer Sutherland and Jon Cassar, who directed 58 episodes of Sutherland's TV series 24 had discussed for years the idea of doing a Western film together. Sutherland eventually commissioned Brad Mirman to write a screenplay for such a film, to co-star Sutherland's father, veteran actor Donald Sutherland. While the two had appeared together in two films previously—Max Dugan Returns (1983) and A Time to Kill (1996)—they had never shared a scene. Produced for $20 million, it began shooting in July 2013 at the CL Ranch in Springbank, Alberta, near Calgary, and was wrapped by September. It was also announced that Kevin DeWalt would produce under his Minds Eye Entertainment banner, with Josh Miller also producing under his Panacea Entertainment banner.

In June 2015, some actors who had worked on the film two years earlier under ACTRA Alberta contracts, but who were still owed wages, were paid. The following month, approximately 100 members of the crew union IATSE local 212 and of the Directors Guild of Canada were in the process of being paid a total of $300,000 still owed. The Alberta Labour Relations Board had ruled in April 2015 that the production companies—Redemption Alberta Inc., Redemption Productions Inc., Panacea Entertainment Inc., Regina’s Minds Eye Entertainment Ltd., and Kiefer Sutherland’s Camel Entertainment Inc.—would not be allowed to access approximately $1.7-million in Alberta Film Grant money until issues with the film's workers and suppliers were resolved.

Filming

Principal photography on the film began in July 2013, in Calgary, with a budget of $11 million.

Release

Forsaken had its world premiere at the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival during its 40th anniversary, on September 16, 2015. Prior to the film's premiere at the festival, Momentum Pictures acquired U.S distribution rights to the film. It then went onto screen at the Zurich Film Festival on September 25, 2015, where Kiefer Sutherland won The Golden Eye Award. The film was released in the United States on February 19, 2016.

Reception

The film received generally mixed reviews from critics. Rotten Tomatoes gave it 43% rating based on 40 reviews. Metacritic gave it 56/100 points based on 16 critics, labeling it "mixed or average". It's currently rated 6.3/10 points on IMDb.

Accolades

The film was nominated for 5 categories at the 4th Canadian Screen Awards: Art direction/Production design, cinematography, costume design, make-up and sound editing.