# Godless (2017)

> A ruthless outlaw hunts a former gang member who has found refuge in a mining town populated only by widows.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/63927

## Facts

- Seasons: 1
- Episodes: 7
- Episode runtime: 69 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: western, drama
- Created by: Scott Frank
- Network: Netflix
- Cast: Jack O'Connell, Michelle Dockery, Scoot McNairy, Merritt Wever, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Tantoo Cardinal, Kim Coates, Sam Waterston
- TMDB rating: 8.2/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5516154/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: measured
- Intensity: strong
- Complexity: layered
- Violence: graphic
- Tone: gritty, bleak, atmospheric, tense

## What critics say

Critics and audiences broadly agree that Godless is an acclaimed, visually striking western with powerful performances and a grim, character-driven story.

## Synopsis

Godless (2017) is a Netflix western miniseries created by Scott Frank. Jeff Daniels plays Frank Griffin, a ruthless outlaw who terrorizes the American West in search of Roy Goode (Jack O'Connell), a former member of his gang who has found a new life in a quiet town. That town, La Belle in New Mexico Territory, is populated almost entirely by women after a mining disaster claimed its men. Michelle Dockery plays Alice Fletcher, a widow whose rough community becomes the stage for a mounting confrontation, while Scoot McNairy and Merritt Wever add weight as townsfolk and Sam Waterston plays a marshal. The engine is a relentless pursuit: Griffin's obsession, Roy's need to escape his past, and the gunfights and standoffs that spill into the town. Told across seven episodes of roughly seventy minutes each, it unfolds as one continuous story rather than separate cases. Set in 1880s New Mexico frontier country, the series is a slow-burning, gritty revisionist western, with a bleak and atmospheric register, a sense of lonely frontier dread, and an emotional core rooted in resilience and found family. Fans of Deadwood, Hell on Wheels and Hostiles will find resonance in its harsh landscapes and morally weathered characters.

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