Josh Brolin is about to find out that his family’s Wyoming ranch ain’t no country for old men. In fact, it’s home to an impossible and possibly supernatural entity, in the form of a massive black hole punched into one of the nearby paddocks.
Outer Range is now streaming on Prime Video, and it blends together the best of the West and of sci-fi mysteries to deliver something a little bit Yellowstone, a little bit Stranger Things.
Brolin plays Royal Abbott, the grouchy patriarch of a family left reeling after the sudden disappearance of a daughter-in-law. His wife Lili Taylor tries to keep their sons away from booze and despair, but it’s hard not to fold under the pressure when rich neighbours try to buy out their land.
Then the hole appears, and is soon discovered as a great way to dispose of dirty family secrets. Brolin ends the pilot episode shirtless, sweating and panting as he gazes over the edge of the vast crevasse. When a drawling voice asks him what he’s got there in the trailer below, pinning him down under the glare of a flashlight, he answers honestly: “I don’t know what it is.”
Imogen Poots brings a little urban texture to the mystery as a hippie chick camping out on the Abbott’s land, noticing a bizarre recurring symbol all around their small town. “Angel of the Morning” has been a bit too overused in film and TV recently, but it does add a certain romanticism to this earthy weird west saga’s trailer.
All eight episodes of Outer Range season one will premiere on Prime Video, released in two-episode chunks each Friday until the rousing final pair of episode drop on May 6. Saddle up, pardner: it’s gonna be a metaphysical ride.
