CINEMANIA:

Ophelia (Claire McCarthy, UK, 2018)

Even for those who have never read Shakespeare's play, the story of Hamlet has seeped into the collective unconscious enough that the key plot points are at the very least familiar. A brooding Danish prince spends the better part of the play plagued by indecision. He suspects his father was murdered by his uncle Claudius, who in turn has quickly married Hamlet's mother and seized the throne. As he ruminates on his options, which include but are not limited to suicide and murder, Hamlet is for the longest time unable to do anything to anybody, until, in the end, he does everything to everybody.

The Outsider (Timothy Woodward Jr., USA, 2019)

"A man who desires revenge should dig two graves." (unknown)

Revenge flicks and westerns are a natural fit. Both play on the American myth of the lone wolf, both generally endorse the notion that violence in the service of justice is acceptable, and both usually involve one good man taking on many bad ones. The Outsider, written by Sean Ryan and directed by Timothy Woodward Jr., fits comfortably within these boundaries.