Blood For Dust – Review
Blood for Dust is a bleak, bullet-riddled ride through 1990s Montana
The story follows Cliff (Scoot McNairy), a travelling salesman barely scraping by, who ends up reconnecting with his old mate Ricky (Kit Harington). Ricky’s no longer the lad who’d buy you a pint—he’s a gun-running, drug dealing scumbag with a great pornstache/goatee. The “one job” scenario soon snowballs into chaos as the two get tangled in the unforgiving web of a cartel run by the menacing John (Josh Lucas).
From the first dodgy deal to the inevitable blood-soaked reckoning, it’s a tale about how desperation can turn a man’s moral compass into scrap metal.
Scoot McNairy absolutely nails it. He’s got that everyman-on-the-brink energy akin to Bob Odenkirk in Nobody. There’s a moment when Cliff realises he’s in over his head, and McNairy sells that fear so well, it practically seeps out of the screen.
And Kit Harington! It’s like he’s swapped Jon Snow’s brooding for a “charming psychopath” kit. Ricky’s the sort of character who’d laugh with you in the pub, then casually suggest burying a body in the woods. Harington straddles that duality with unnerving ease and to this untrained ear, does a decent accent too. Josh Lucas as the cartel boss John doesn’t get loads of screen time, but when he shows up, he exudes that calm, “don’t-mess-with-me” menace that sends a chill.
Rod Blackhurst clearly tore a page from the neo-noir handbook, but instead of flashy violence, he leans into that slow-burn tension. The 1990s setting is spot on without feeling forced—grimy diners, dodgy motels, and battered briefcases full of cash.
The violence, when it does erupt, feels nasty and real, it’s fast, brutal, and ugly.
It’s not perfect. There are moments when the film’s slow pace threatens to drag it into overstaying its welcome. You can feel it sitting a bit heavy around the middle. Some scenes linger a bit longer than they should, like someone holding a stare just past comfortable. Also, the plot itself isn’t exactly reinventing the wheel, desperation leads to crime, crime leads to doom, you know the drill.
The film looks stunning, there’s one simple scene with an old farmhand running behind some livestock that was oddly beautiful. The sound is a little less stunning, I found the score jarring at times and the dialogue got lost behind it at certain points.
Blood for Dust isn’t a cheerful Friday night popcorn flick—it’s the kind of film that leaves you brooding for a bit, wondering what you’d do in Cliff’s shoes. But if you’re a fan of grim, character-driven crime dramas where the performances do the heavy lifting, it’s absolutely worthy of your time. Scoot McNairy and Kit Harington make sure of that.
Think No Country for Old Men meets A Simple Plan via Fargo in a dodgy used car lot with a bag of guns in the boot. If that sounds like your cup of tea, Blood for Dust delivers.
Just don’t expect a happy ending.
The film is set for its UK debut January 13th 2025 thanks to 101 Films.
