Big Picture Big Sound

Writer-director Thomas Bezucha makes a dramatic shift in his film choices with "Let Him Go," a tense drama that is a considerable departure from the movies he's made before. His last movie, 2011's "Monte Carlo" found Selena Gomez traversing around Paris in a more family-oriented picture, and his 2005 "The Family Stone" - a personal favorite during the holidays - brought a big ensemble cast together with quirks and tears in equal doses. "Let Him Go" is an effective transition for Bezucha into something a bit darker.

Kevin Costner and Diane Lane star as retired sheriff George Blackledge and his wife Margaret, who live on a Montana ranch. One day, George discovers that their only son James (Ryan Bruce) has died in a freak accident, leaving behind his wife Lorna (Kayli Carter) and their son Jimmy. A few years down the road, Lorna marries Donnie Weboy (Will Brittain), seemingly reluctantly, and George and Margaret attend the small ceremony to support their son's wife and their only grandchild.

Margaret wants to remain a part of Jimmy's life and one day notices Donnie being openly abusive to Lorna and Jimmy. As any grandparent would, Margaret becomes immediately concerned for the well-being of her grandson. When she attempts to visit Lorna and Donnie, they aren't home. It appears they've packed everything up and moved, and Margaret isn't sure where they could have gone. She is immediately concerned and desperately wants to see Jimmy, so she decides to hit the road and find them. She plans to go alone, but George insists on joining her.

George and Margaret are led to the notorious Weboy family, who are skeptical of the Blackledge's arrival. Bill Weboy (Jeffrey Donovan) has an unsettling presence from the moment they meet but invites George and Margaret to join him at his family's home for dinner. Upon arrival, the atmosphere is tense, aided by Blanche Weboy's (Lesley Manville) presence.

"Let Him Go," which Bezucha adapted from Larry Watson's novel, feels like two movies pinned together. The first half is a quiet family portrait, punctuated by grief and loss. The tension skyrockets in the second half of the film, which may cause a jarring tonal shift for some viewers, but Bezucha keeps the families' meeting tense the entire way through.

The beating heart of the movie is Lane's quiet and pained performance as Margaret. She carries the devastation, guilt, and yearning of Margaret and gives the movie its emotional pulse. Costner's role fits him like a glove, as he channels his typical stoicism into George's reluctance to go on this journey with his wife. A few years ago, Manville dominated Paul Thomas Anderson's "Phantom Thread" with a terse silence, which garnered her an Oscar nomination. In "Let Him Go," she plays to the back of the theater as Blanche. Her performance, purposefully over the top, feels like it might be from a completely different movie, but she is a blast to watch.

Bezucha's film is an example of the kind of movies we rarely see these days. As the demand for mid-level dramas sadly shrinks, it's nice to see a movie like "Let Him Go" enter multiplexes (even though this would have benefitted from a VOD release in the COVID age) as an option for adults. Equal parts moving and thrilling, "Let Him Go" is a nice surprise.