Key Takeaways
- Film Success: Old Henry achieved significant viewership on Netflix, ranking first in the U.S. for nearly two weeks.
- Plot Overview: The story centers on a widowed farmer who faces a life-altering encounter with a bleeding stranger.
- Critical Acclaim: The film received a 95% critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes, highlighting its storytelling and performances.
- Streaming Availability: Old Henry is currently available for streaming on Netflix.
The Western as a genre is never going to die out. Let’s be real, it’ll just retreat into the wilderness, wait for audiences to forget about it, and then it’ll ride back into town when it assumes nobody’s looking. And that’s what’s happened, as one of the best modern Westerns many viewers have never seen is quietly dominating Netflix.
Five years later, Old Henry reached top spot in the United States on the Netflix movie chart, and then stayed there for nearly two weeks while also generating approximately 6.4 million hours viewed globally between July 6 and July 12. Word of mouth is seriously cool when it works so positively.
Old Henry follows a widowed farmer named Henry (Tim Blake Nelson), living a quiet and peaceful-like on a homestead in Oklahoma alongside his teenage son, Wyatt (Gavin Lewis). But that tranquility is brutally shattered when Henry comes across a stranger, bleeding, and carrying a satchel full of money. After deciding rather selflessly to help the injured man, Henry soon finds himself under siege after being confronted by a group of heavily armed men claiming to be lawmen who insist the fugitive belongs to them. As the stand-off escalates, Henry demonstrates an unexpectedly deadly set of skills that suggest there is far more to the quiet farmer than anyone first realized.
The film also stars Stephen Dorff (Blade) as Ketchum, Scott Haze (Venom) as Curry, Trace Adkins (Deepwater Horizon) as Al, Kent Shelton (Fear the Walking Dead) as Ben Cravens, Richard Speight Jr. (Supernatural) as Dugan, and Max Arciniega (Breaking Bad) as Esteban. Old Henry was written and directed by Potsy Ponciroli, whose latest film, Motor City (starring Alan Ritchson), is in theaters now.
How Did ‘Old Henry’ Do at the Box Office?
Old Henry only had a limited release back in 2021, earning just over $42,000 at the domestic box office, so it’s hard to really gauge that because, while it’s a negligible total on paper, it’s more of a reflection of the “boutique” distribution strategy than how good the film really was. The film actually found its audience primarily through premium video-on-demand and home entertainment rather than traditional theatrical exhibition. Critics were considerably more enthusiastic, though. The Western holds an outstanding 95% critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes, with reviewers praising Nelson’s understated lead performance, the film’s patient storytelling, and its rewarding final twist.
Old Henry is streaming on Netflix now.
How Did ‘Old Henry’ Do at the Box Office?
