Actor Viggo Mortensen goes back behind the camera for the upcoming western, The Dead Don’t Hurt. Here’s a new trailer:
Viggo Mortensen made his directorial debut in 2020 with Falling, a drama about a fractious relationship between a father and son. He wrote the script and also starred alongside Lance Henriksen and Laura Linney.
Mortensen may be better known for intense performances in films like A History Of Violence, Eastern Promises, A Dangerous Method (all made with director David Cronenberg) and The Lord Of The Rings trilogy, but in recent years he’s built up a career behind the camera.
He’s now set to direct his second film, a western called The Dead Don’t Hurt. The synopsis reads as follows:
A story of star-crossed lovers on the western U.S. frontier in the 1860s. Vivienne Le Coudy (Vicky Krieps) is a fiercely independent woman who embarks on a relationship with Danish immigrant Holgen Olsen (Viggo Mortensen). After meeting Olsen in San Francisco, she agrees to travel with him to his home near the quiet town of Elk Flats, Nevada, where they start a life together. The outbreak of the U.S. Civil War separates them when Olsen makes a fateful decision to fight for the Union. This leaves Vivienne to fend for herself in a place controlled by corrupt Mayor Rudolph Schiller (Danny Huston) and his unscrupulous business partner, powerful rancher Alfred Jeffries (Garrett Dillahunt). His violent, wayward son Weston (Solly McLeod) aggressively pursues Vivienne, who is determined to resist his unwanted advances. When Holgen returns home, he and Vivienne must confront and make peace with the person each has become…
The Dead Don’t Hurt will be released in the US on the 31st May, with a UK release yet to be confirmed. We’ll keep you updated as we hear more.
Watch the trailer below:
