10 Greatest Modern Westerns Of The 21st Century, Ranked

Published Sep 26, 2026, 5:00 PM EDT Shawn S. Lealos is an entertainment writer who is a voting member of the Oklahoma Film Critics Circle. He has written for Screen Rant, CBR, ComicBook, The Direct, The Sportster, Chud, 411mania, Renegade Cinema, Yahoo Movies, and many more. Shawn has a bachelor's degree in professional writing and a minor in film studies from the University of Oklahoma. He also has won numerous awards, including several Columbia Gold Circle Awards and an SPJ honor. He also wrote Dollar Deal: The Story of the Stephen King Dollar Baby Filmmakers, the first official book about the Dollar Baby film program. Shawn is also currently writing his first fiction novel under a pen name, based in the fantasy genre. To learn more, visit his website at shawnlealos.net. The Western movie genre is one of the oldest in Hollywood, and from the 1930s through the 1960s, it was among the most popular of any genre. While it seemed the Western genre died, it came back to life in the 1990s with films like Unforgiven and Tombstone, and in the 21st century, it morphed into something different, with modern themes and shades of gray that were rare in the golden age of Westerns. The 21st century added darkness to the Western genre that didn't exist before. They took what Clint Eastwood mastered in the 1960s with his antiheroes and took it even further, often presenting the lead characters as bad men, sometimes not even doing good things. They also increased the violence to the point where Western horror movies became a subgenre in and of themselves. In the 21st century, there have been some major Western movie legends who have continued in the genre, with names like Kurt Russell continuing to deliver solid performances. However, there have also been several 21st-century modern Westerns by Oscar-caliber directors like Paul Thomas Anderson, the Coen Brothers, and Quentin Tarantino, proving that the genre is far from dead and is still one of the best going today. 10 The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford (2007) When it was released, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford was both a critically acclaimed Western and a polarizing movie considering its slow, methodical pacing. Directed by Andrew Dominik and based on the novel by Ron Hansen, the movie stars Brad Pitt as legendary outlaw Jesse James and Casey Affleck as Robert Ford, the outlaw who worships James and eventually kills him. This is not the action-packed Western that fans might have expected from a movie about Jesse James. Instead, this follows the final months of the outlaw's life as Ford, who idolizes and worships him, eventually turns on him. It is a study of hero worship, betrayal, and myth-making. This is an anti-Western and a slow-burn character study that rewards the patient with a look at the downfall of idols. 9 Bone Tomahawk (2015) Bone Tomahawk is one of the most shocking Westerns of the 21st century because it is a horror movie first and foremost. Kurt Russell returned to the Western genre as Sheriff Franklin Hunt, a man who leads a small posse into desolate territory to rescue townspeople abducted by cannibals known as troglodytes. The best way to describe it is The Searchers meets The Hills Have Eyes. At its heart, this is a rescue Western just like many classical-era genre releases. What works so well for Bone Tomahawk is that it balances slow-burn drama with intense dialogue and graphic bursts of violence and gore once they reach the cannibals' cave home. This is one of the darkest Westerns of the 21st century, as it shows off the frontier but adds in dread and body horror to shock audiences. 8 Django Unchained (2012) Quentin Tarantino released two Western movies in the 21st century. His second, The Hateful Eight, remains one of his most polarizing films. However, the first Western that Tarantino directed remains one of the best of the decade. In Django Unchained, Christoph Waltz stars as bounty hunter Dr. King Schultz, a man who frees an enslaved man named Django (Jamie Foxx), and the two set out to capture the Brittle brothers and then rescue Django's wife. This reinvents the Western as a slavery-era revenge tale, delivering a rare Black hero to the genre. Tarantino referenced the classic spaghetti Western genre, specifically giving nods to the 1966 movie Django, while also adding touches from the blaxploitation-style revenge genre. Django Unchained won two Oscars, with Tarantino winning Best Original Screenplay and Waltz winning Best Supporting Actor. 7 Wind River (2017) Before he began his successful career as a television showrunner, Taylor Sheridan was a movie screenwriter and occasional director. His best directorial effort came with the modern-day Western Wind River in 2017. Jeremy Renner stars as a Fish and Wildlife tracker named Cory Lambert, a man who helps Elizabeth Olsen's FBI agent, Jane Banner, as she investigates the murder of an Indigenous woman. This was a very important movie for Sheridan to make. He said that he wanted to shine a light on the unsolved disappearance and murder cases of Indigenous women, cases that are often buried, with many of them never reported. This modern-day Western focuses on the murder of Indigenous women, something that classical Westerns rarely even acknowledged. It is a study of grief and neglect, and it is a solid murder mystery. 6 Hostiles (2017) Hostiles is a 2017 movie directed by Scott Cooper that stars Christian Bale as an embittered U.S. Army Captain named Joseph Blocker, who is ordered to transport a dying Cheyenne war chief, played by Wes Studi, to his tribal home in Montana to live out his final days. Along the way, a grieving widow named Rosalee, played by Rosamund Pike, joins the journey. In classical Westerns, the role of Native Americans was almost always as villains, but Hostiles takes a more nuanced and realistic look at the two sides in the American West conflicts. This shows the trauma and lasting scars on both sides of the wars, while also serving as a meditation on racism and reconciliation. 5 The Power Of The Dog (2021) Jane Campion wrote and directed The Power of the Dog, based on the novel by Thomas Savage. Benedict Cumberbatch stars as rancher Phil Burbank, a man who torments his brother's new wife (Kirsten Dunst) and son (Kodi Smit-McPhee). The movie takes place on a 1925 Montana cattle ranch, where Phil is both cruel and charismatic, and the bullying he inflicts on the teen covers up his own secret torment. Unlike many Westerns, this is a meditation on repression. Campion broke down the Western hero archetype as a mask hiding vulnerability and shame. That made The Power of the Dog polarizing, as it dissected the normal hero and turned him into a broken man who uses bravado to cover up his insecurities. Even with the polarizing reception, it still earned 12 Oscar nominations, with Campion winning Best Director. 4 The Sisters Brothers (2018) A lesser-known Western from the 21st century, The Sisters Brothers is a movie by director Jacques Audiard in his English-language debut. Based on Patrick deWitt's novel, the movie stars John C. Reilly and Joaquin Phoenix as assassin brothers Eli and Charlie Sisters, while Jake Gyllenhaal and Riz Ahmed co-star. This turns the Western into a comic character piece about the relationship between the brothers. This doesn't deal so much with the gunfights and action of classical Westerns, and it instead focuses more on the brothers bickering as they attempt to escape their violent past. It was a box-office flop, but it was a festival favorite, winning awards at the Venice Film Festival and the César Awards. It is a moving revisionist Western made from a European auteur's point of view. 3 Hell Or High Water (2016) Taylor Sheridan wrote Hell or High Water, while David Mackenzie directed the movie. The movie stars Chris Pine and Ben Foster as bank-robbing brothers Toby and Tanner Howard. Jeff Bridges stars as Texas Ranger Marcus Hamilton, a man trying to catch and bring the brothers in. This is a modern-day Western, taking place in present-day West Texas, with the brothers robbing the bank that is foreclosing on their late mother's ranch. It is the prototypical neo-Western, trading horses for pickup trucks and old-school outlaws for modern cowboys living in a post-recession America. The banks are the real villains in this movie, and the story blurs the line between good and evil when it comes to the main characters. Hell or High Water was nominated for four Oscars, including Best Picture, and it remains a lean heist Western with great dialogue and Bridges delivering an Oscar-worthy performance. 2 There Will Be Blood (2007) Image via MovieStillsDB Released in 2007, Paul Thomas Anderson directed There Will Be Blood, a movie whose story is loosely based on Upton Sinclair's 1927 novel Oil! Daniel Day-Lewis stars as oil prospector Daniel Plainview, a man who travels from one town to the next, bleeding them dry of oil and hope, and leaving them dead when he moves on to the next town. Paul Dano stars as Eli Sunday, a preacher who stands up to him. While Plainview is the protagonist of the movie, he is also the villain. He is very similar to Dracula, with oil standing in for blood when it comes to what he drains from every town he rolls into. He even has an adopted son he uses up and discards in the movie. This is a monumental character study, and it ended up with eight Oscar nominations, including Best Picture and Best Director. Day-Lewis won Best Actor. 1 No Country For Old Men (2007) via MovieStillsDB Released the same year as There Will Be Blood, the Coen Brothers' movie No Country for Old Men is the reason that Paul Thomas Anderson's movie didn't win Best Picture or Best Director. Based on Cormac McCarthy's novel, the movie stars Javier Bardem as a hitman named Anton Chigurh, who is sent to retrieve $2 million taken from a drug deal gone wrong by a man named Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin). The movie takes place in West Texas in 1980, and Bardem is brilliant as the relentless assassin who kills people based on a coin flip. It is a dark and nihilistic story that shows death comes for everyone, and there is no escaping that. The movie won four Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Supporting Actor for Bardem. Both There Will Be Blood and No Country for Old Men were named in the top 10 movies of the 21st century.