Godless redefined the TV western before Taylor Sheridan’s 1923

Godless arrived on Netflix as a vicious, searing western that put the genre back in the spotlight. Created, written, and directed entirely by Scott Frank—better known for The Queen's Gambit—the 2017 limited series drew acclaim for its direction, acting, and cinematography and went on to win multiple Emmy Awards.

Starring Michelle Dockery, Jack O'Connell, Merritt Wever, and Jeff Daniels, the show is set in a late-19th-century mining town all but turned to dust. Its gritty atmosphere and unflinching depiction of outlaws and cowboys offered a brutal, unsentimental retelling of a dying way of life.

The central story follows a bloody massacre in Creede, Colorado, committed by the outlaw Frank Griffin, who pursues ex-gang member Roy Goode after Goode runs off with their latest plunder following a train robbery. Griffin’s obsession propels a trail of violence across the West as he refuses to stop until he finds him.

United States, Creede, Colorado

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