The Last Victim (2022)

The Last Victim earns its keep on sheer neo-western mood: sun-bleached roads, hard shadows, and the kind of quiet dread that makes the landscape feel like an accomplice. It’s a lean, gritty crime thriller that plays like a modern frontier tale, where danger doesn’t announce itself with speeches so much as with a look across a diner counter. Ali Larter brings a grounded, watchful intensity that gives the film its human pulse, and the rest of the cast meets her with performances that feel lived-in rather than theatrical. If you want a twisty, high-gloss mystery, this may feel too spare, but if you’re craving atmosphere, strong acting, and a tough-minded Western vibe with modern teeth, it’s an easy bet.

The Last Victim wants to be a dusty, Coen-adjacent neo-western with a simmering crime mystery and a small-town sheriff staring into the void. The problem is it mistakes quirky tone and narration for depth, so the story can feel confusing, disjointed, and a bit pretentious without earning the payoff. If you’re hoping for a tight, suspenseful thriller with clear momentum and coherent character arcs, this may test your patience. Still, the Southwest atmosphere and flashes of grit can be mildly engaging if you’re in the mood for a slow, mood-first crime yarn and don’t mind familiar beats.