Rating: R | Runtime: 100 minutes
Release Date: June 20th, 2023 (USA)
Studio: MGM+
Director(s): Anthony Mandler
Writer(s): Andrew Pagana & Justin Thomas and Andrew Pagana

Being free is having faith.

Mo Washington (Letitia Wright) is introduced praying to God to get her to where she’s going. It won’t be an easy task to deliver. Not when she’s a Black woman on the edge of the Old West just five years removed from the Civil War. Not when her only shot at not being asked too many questions is to pose as a former Buffalo soldier, knowing most white people won’t want to look at her close enough to see that she’s actually a woman.

So, when the coach that takes her money for a ride to Colorado also takes her gun (while forcing her to sit on the back bumper instead of inside), she complies. When the only passenger who seems friendly enough (Jeffrey Donovan’s Wheeler) asks about said gun, she tells him she can hardly hit a dead buffalo. Well, that’s most certainly a lie.

Anthony Mandler’s gorgeous-looking western Surrounded soon proves as much courtesy of a gang of bank robbers led by Tommy Walsh (Jamie Bell). Once their thievery goes awry and the coach horses run wild, the circumstances become life or death in such a way that Mo cannot help but prove her accuracy. Luckily for her, the only one who takes notice is Tommy.

It makes sense, of course. An outlaw like him doesn’t care about the racism of “decent” rich folk. He’s only interested in an angle to save his skin and make more money. As such, he keeps the secret once he’s chained up. He knows Wheeler and the others won’t trust Mo to fetch the sheriff (or the sheriff to listen if she did), so he lets them make their plans and leave her as guard. What follows is as much a test of will as it is wits. Because even though Tommy is destined for the gallows, Mo has the most to lose (and gain).

The result could have been nothing more than a familiar two-hander awaiting a familiar conclusion. It probably should have been. But that’s where screenwriters Andrew Pagana and Justin Thomas come in with enough tricks up their sleeves via unknown entities still on the horizon (one of which is the late, always fantastic Michael K. Williams) and complex backstories for their dual leads that provide enough reasons for them to work together as keep them apart.

Questions too. Will Wheeler return? Will he and the sheriff kill Mo rather than deal with the trouble of splitting the bounty? Will the Native Americans on that land kill them first? Can Tommy coax Mo onto his side with promises of bank loot? Is any choice Mo makes guaranteed to keep her alive? Every character on-screen makes a case for her to choose him and yet the only person she can truly trust is herself.

I was enthralled throughout by the effectiveness of the plotting, but also Wright’s performance. Bell is fantastic. He’s a real piece of work lying every time he opens his mouth since the words being true don’t mean his intent is, but it’s Wright who carries the drama. She’s the one with an authentic mix of vulnerability and courage depending on how far into a corner she’s pushed.

Because Mo might survive this night in the desert with Tommy just by keeping her head down and ears shut. Maybe his gang isn’t coming to save him. Maybe Wheeler will have her back. As Tommy’s desperation grows, however, he ultimately moves to force her hand. Every character does because they think they can trip her up. The moment they reveal who they really are, though, is the moment she’ll shoot straight without regret. She hasn’t lived this long and this hard to fall without a fight.

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[L-R] Letitia Wright as “Mo Washington” and Jamie Bell as “Tommy Walsh” in the western, action film, SURROUNDED, an MGM release. Photo courtesy of Richard Foreman.