Overview
A young soldier's journey through the horrors of war leads him to discover the true meaning of home and resilience.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Brisk
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Easy to follow
- Violence
- Brutal
- harrowing
- melancholic
- atmospheric
- historical film night
- war cinema marathon
What critics said
Critics broadly praised the film's raw performances, atmospheric cinematography, score, and realistic wartime intensity, while finding its patriotic coming-of-age perspective somewhat old-fashioned and uncritical.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Sixteen-year-old Arturs enters the army expecting meaning and glory, but repeated bereavement and brutal combat transform him.
Arturs returns to a homeland beginning from scratch, paralleling his own reconstruction with Latvia's emergence as a country.
The film explicitly presents war as brutal, painful, unfair, and devoid of the imagined glory promised to Arturs.
Critics specifically praise the exceptionally atmospheric and breathtaking cinematography, with a large-scale blockbuster feel.
Films like The Rifleman, and why
All Quiet on the Western Front
shared first world war setting, unglamorous combat realism, and a young soldier's loss of innocence
Paths of Glory
shared intimate soldier perspective, bleak battlefield atmosphere, and emotionally devastating anti-glory war drama
1917
shared national wartime trauma, historical spectacle, and visually immersive military drama
The Painted Bird
shared coming-of-age structure, brutal combat experience, and historically grounded eastern European war setting
Movie Details
- Director
- Dzintars Dreibergs
- Release Date
- 2019-11-11
- Runtime
- 124 min
- Rating
- 7.3 / 10 (204)
Cast
- Oto Brantevics
- Vilis Daudziņš
- Ivars Krasts
- Gatis Gāga
- Martins Vilsons
- Rēzija Kalniņa
- Raimonds Celms
- Jēkabs Reinis
- Ieva Florence-Vīksne
- Renārs Zeltiņš
Where to watch in United States
- Streaming
- fuboTV
- Rent
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
- Buy
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is The Rifleman about?
- A Latvian teenager joins the First World War and must survive the destruction of his family, ideals, and homeland before rebuilding a life in a newly born nation.
- What is The Rifleman like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of The Rifleman as brisk, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as easy to follow.
- Is The Rifleman violent?
- Yes. Ember rates the violence in The Rifleman as brutal.
- What did critics think of The Rifleman?
- Critics broadly praised the film's raw performances, atmospheric cinematography, score, and realistic wartime intensity, while finding its patriotic coming-of-age perspective somewhat old-fashioned and uncritical.
- Which films are like The Rifleman?
- Films with a similar feel include All Quiet on the Western Front, Paths of Glory, 1917, and The Painted Bird.
- How long is The Rifleman?
- The Rifleman runs 124 minutes.
- Where can I watch The Rifleman?
- In United States, The Rifleman streams on fuboTV.
