5+ Years Later, Kevin Costner’s Western Crime Thriller Finally Redeems Itself on Streaming

While Kevin Costner‘s love for Americana and the Old West precedes that of Taylor Sheridan, the Oscar-winner has found himself playing catch-up to the streaming maven following their fallout. The two worked together on the widely loved neo-Western series Yellowstone, which has spawned several spin-offs and significantly extended Costner’s career as a leading man. However, Costner and Sheridan famously didn’t see eye to eye during the show’s final stages, which eventually led to its abrupt end in 2024. Since then, Costner has devoted himself to producing, directing, and acting in his magnum opus project, a five-film Western franchise titled Horizon: An American Saga. Now viewed as a rival project to Sheridan’s work, the franchise debuted with its first installment in the same year as Yellowstone‘s final season. A second installment has been shot, while the third film is also in development.

Even before he began working on Horizon, however, Costner tried to capitalize on Yellowstone‘s success by targeting its audience with a crime movie that dealt with similar themes. The movie in question was released in 2020, around the time Yellowstone became one of the biggest shows in the country. Directed by Thomas Bezucha, the neo-Western film followed Costner’s character and his wife as they try to protect their grandson from a gang. The movie also featured Diane Lane and Lesley Manville, and was set, like Yellowstone, in Montana.

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Here’s the ‘Yellowstone’ Replacement That’s Doing Well on Netflix

We’re talking about Let Him Go, which grossed $11 million at the box office in 2020 against a reported budget of more than $20 million. The movie received positive reviews and now holds a “Certified Fresh” 85% score on the aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, where the critics’ consensus reads, “Let Him Go‘s uneven blend of adult drama and revenge thriller is smoothed over by strong work from a solid veteran cast.” Despite the feud with Costner bringing Yellowstone to an end, Sheridan has gone on to produce a string of offshoots — the prequels 1883 and 1923, and the sequels Marshals and Dutton Ranch. A third prequel series, tentatively titled 1944, is also in the works. Meanwhile, Let Him Go is staging a resurgence on home video, according to FlixPatrol. It’s currently among the most-watched movies globally on Netflix.

Stay tuned to Collider for more streaming updates.