'Thought-provoking' Western starring Tom Hanks is now streaming on Netflix
Some movies don't shout. They sit you down, pour some coffee, and tell a story that hangs in the air after the credits. News of the World is one of those - a quiet Western with a big heart - and it's now on Netflix.
Set in 1870, in the uneasy calm after the Civil War, Tom Hanks (movies and tv series) plays Captain Jefferson Kyle Kidd, a veteran who travels town to town reading newspapers aloud to folks who can't get them any other way. On a dusty road, he finds a young girl who's been separated from her family. He decides to take her home - 400 miles across rough country, bad actors, and even worse memories.
What makes it hit different
This isn't a shootout-every-five-minutes kind of Western. It's about two people who don't share a language learning to share a life, even for a short stretch. You feel it in the quiet - the clink of coins in Kidd's tin, the creak of wagon wheels, the way the girl (movies and tv series) watches him before she trusts him.
Director Paul Greengrass (movies and tv series), known for nerve-jangling action, slows the pulse here. The camera lingers on open plains and faces lined by wind and worry. And when danger does show up - a tense chase through rocky hills, a town boss who wants the news bent to his liking - it lands hard.
Why people keep talking about it
Fans praise how grounded it feels. The Reconstruction-era details aren't window dressing; they shape every choice Kidd and the girl make, from which road to take to which story to read out loud. There's a clear through line: the stories we tell each other can hurt, heal, or be used to control.
It also helps that the performances are steady and lived-in. Hanks brings a weary gentleness to Kidd. Helena Zengel (movies and tv series), as Johanna, barely speaks at first, but you read her in glances and small rebellions. It's the kind of pairing that sticks.
The hardware and the craft
The film picked up four Oscar nominations - cinematography, production design, original score, and sound - a tidy snapshot of how carefully it's built. If you're curious, the Academy's 2021 nominees list is here: Oscars 2021.
Listen for James Newton Howard (movies and tv series)'s score. It doesn't swell so much as settle in, like a campfire warming your hands. And Dariusz Wolski (movies and tv series)'s images give you the dust and distance you need to feel how far 400 miles really is.
If you work in movie news, here's the quick take
- Title: News of the World (2020), now streaming on Netflix
- Director: Paul Greengrass; adapted from Paulette Jiles (movies and tv series)' novel
- Cast: Tom Hanks, Helena Zengel
- Awards: 4 Oscar nominations (Cinematography, Production Design, Original Score, Sound)
- Tone: Character-first Western; measured pace with a few sharp bursts of action
- Rating/Runtime: PG-13, about 2 hours
Should you queue it up tonight?
If you want a Western that cares about people more than pistols, yes. It's thoughtful without feeling slow, and honest without being bleak. And for anyone thinking about the power of news - who tells it, who hears it, and who tries to twist it - there's plenty to chew on.
News of the World is streaming on Netflix now. Availability can vary by region, but if it's in your catalog, it's worth your time.
