The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
Movie, 2018, The 2010s, Set in Six western tales
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs is #33 of 34 in release order and #30 of 34 in chronological order in the Westerns.
The story
Vignettes weaving together the stories of six individuals in the old West at the end of the Civil War. Following the tales of a sharp-shooting songster, a wannabe bank robber, two weary traveling performers, a lone gold prospector, a woman traveling the West to an uncertain future, and a motley crew of strangers undertaking a carriage ride.
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs recap
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (2018) collects six Coen brothers stories of the American frontier, from a singing gunfighter to a stagecoach full of strangers. Joel and Ethan Coen write and direct, and Netflix released it after a short cinema run. In the title tale, Buster Scruggs (Tim Blake Nelson), a cheerful cowboy in white, sings and shoots his way through saloons until a faster young man arrives. In "Near Algodones" a bank robber (James Franco) keeps escaping the noose. "Meal Ticket" follows an impresario (Liam Neeson) touring a limbless orator, Harrison (Harry Melling), through ever smaller towns. In "All Gold Canyon" a prospector (Tom Waits) digs out a gold pocket in a quiet valley. "The Gal Who Got Rattled" sends Alice Longabaugh (Zoe Kazan) west on a wagon train to Oregon after her brother dies, where the guide Billy Knapp (Bill Heck) proposes. "The Mortal Remains" puts five passengers, two of them bounty hunters (Brendan Gleeson and Jonjo O'Neill), on a coach at dusk. The film stands alone.
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs ending explained
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs ends with "The Mortal Remains", in which the coach reaches a hotel at night and the uneasy passengers follow the two bounty hunters, carrying a body, inside. The bounty hunters talk about watching people pass over, and the door closes. Earlier tales end in death too: Buster rises to heaven singing, the impresario trades Harrison for a counting chicken, and Alice shoots herself during a Comanche attack moments before Mr. Arthur drives the raiders off.
Post-credits scenes
No. There is no post-credits scene.
Where to watch The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs is streaming on Netflix in the US.
Ratings
IMDb 7.2/10, Rotten Tomatoes 90%
Where it fits
- Release order: after Hostiles, before The Power of the Dog.
- Chronological order: after Hostiles, before The Power of the Dog.
Cast
- Tim Blake Nelson as Buster Scruggs (segment "The Ballad of Buster Scruggs")
- Willie Watson as The Kid (segment "The Ballad of Buster Scruggs")
- Clancy Brown as Curly Joe (segment "The Ballad of Buster Scruggs")
- Danny McCarthy as Curly Joe's Brother (segment "The Ballad of Buster Scruggs")
- David Krumholtz as Frenchman (segment "The Ballad of Buster Scruggs")
- Thomas Wingate as Gun Check Man (segment "The Ballad of Buster Scruggs")
- Tim DeZarn as Mean-Eyed Card Player (segment "The Ballad of Buster Scruggs")
- E.E. Bell as Piano Player (segment "The Ballad of Buster Scruggs")
- Alejandro Patiño as Cantina Bartender (segment "The Ballad of Buster Scruggs")
- Tom Proctor as Cantina Bad Man (segment "The Ballad of Buster Scruggs")
- Clinton Roberts as Cantina Scum (segment "The Ballad of Buster Scruggs")
- Matthew Willig as Cantina Scum (segment "The Ballad of Buster Scruggs")
Directed by Joel Coen, Ethan Coen.