Movie review
March 12, 2016 · 148 min · R
Woke Score
Lower is better
Review
Brimstone is a dark, non-linear 2016 psychological Western thriller about Liz, a mute frontier woman in the Old West who is hunted by a sadistic preacher from her past. The story jumps between four time periods to show her traumatic history of incest, abuse, and survival. It puts strong focus on a female survivor fighting back against religious male control and violence in a brutal historical setting. Some critics have called it a feminist tale for its clear emphasis on misogyny and female resilience.
Breakdown
These are the editorial factors and ratings behind our score for Brimstone.
Woke representation / casting
Cast fits the 19th-century American West setting with mostly European actors in period-appropriate roles; no forced diversity, gender swaps, or visible identity signaling.
Woke political dialogue
Religious talk is used to justify abuse and control, but it stays in historical context with no modern activist speeches or current political arguments.
Identity-driven story themes
The story centers on one woman’s survival and revenge against incest and patriarchal religious abuse; it strongly highlights female grit and resistance in a male-dominated world, which many viewers notice.
Western institutional / cultural critique
It shows religious fanaticism and frontier patriarchy as tools for oppressing women through twisted scripture and male entitlement; the critique feels tied to the period story rather than modern activist reframing of today’s issues.
Woke character or canon changes
Production
Not relevant. This is an original story with no changes to known characters or historical events.
Anti-woke backlash and complaints
Almost no backlash or praise framing the film as woke or agenda-driven; any discussion was about graphic violence or whether it truly empowers women.
Creator track record context
Martin Koolhoven has made historical survival stories before and has noted in interviews that themes of misogyny and religion still matter today, but he has said he did not set out to make a feminist or activist film and shows no clear pattern of identity-politics work.
