
Watch Trailer
Now Instant presents a double bill of Harry Lawson’s experimental documentary Stepney Western and Kelly Reichardt’s revisionist Western Meek’s Cutoff.
Stepney Western
Stepney Western is an experimental documentary by Harry Lawson, made in collaboration with a group of young inner-city horse riders from Newcastle upon Tyne, UK. Recasting their neighbourhood as the Wild West, the film sits at the porous boundary between fact and fiction, combining recontextualised iPhone clips shot by the riders and archival material with Lawson’s own footage. It is loosely centred on their Alternative Provision programme — a unique alternative for young people in England who struggle in mainstream education settings.
Meek's Cutoff
Kelly Reichardt's Meek's Cutoff is a stark and poetic drama set in 1845, the earliest days of the treacherous Oregon Trail. A wagon train of three families has hired mountain man Stephen Meek to guide them over the Cascade Mountains. Claiming to know a shortcut, Meek leads the group on an unmarked path across the high plain desert, only to become lost in the dry rock and sage. Over the coming days, the emigrants must face the scourges of hunger, thirst, and their own lack of faith in each others' instincts for survival. When a Native American wanderer crosses their path, the emigrants are torn between their trust in a guide who has proven himself unreliable and a man who has always been seen as their natural born enemy.
Please note: seating is limited. Box Office opens thirty minutes prior to the listed showtime. Guests may add their name to the standby list upon arrival. Online ticket sales will be honored up until 15 minutes after the scheduled showtime; at that time, any unclaimed seats will be released for in-store purchase on a first-come, first-served basis. All Sales Final.


