A lurid tale of vengeance and lust, set against the backdrop of the American west at the end of the 19th century, Brimstone stars Dakota Fanning as a mute woman persecuted by a preacher (Guy Pearce) who is determined to destroy her and everything she holds dear. Although the four-chapter structure is neatly handled and the savage backdrop strikingly photographed, there’s something a little unsavoury about this picture. It’s not the graphic violence, rape, incest and numerous shots of women being bound and flogged that are the problems, as such. It’s the hint of tumescence behind the camera accompanying these scenes that gives the whole picture a queasily sensationalist quality.
