For several decades now, the Western genre has languished. The notable exceptions have been movies with a strong hook.

For example, the hook for “True Grit” was that the protagonist was an intelligent 14-year old girl stubbornly determined to avenge her father’s death. ?It was strong enough hook to get the best-selling book adapted into a movie–twice, in 1975 and 2010 .

The hook that “Revanant” (2015) ?had going for it, that made the story so compelling, was that it was based on an actual frontiersman’s ordeal — the writer wasn’t just making it up.

If, like “Revenant”, ?the story line in this premise was at least “inspired by” historical events, that would provide a stronger hook. ?And I think the logline should signal that.

And if it’s entirely fictional, well then I have to ask: ?what does the author conceive as the story hook strong enough to get the script read, the movie made? ?The dramatic conceit that two White?men who fought against each other in the Civil War must now fight together?

What if one of the duo was an ex-slave, the other an ex-Confederate soldier and slave owner? ?What if they must overcome their pasts, their prejudice and hatred to fight together against their common foe, a gang of ex-Confederates marauding the (Texas?) country side?

The reason I ask is that, IMHO, the cultural zeitgeist for cinema has changed in the US. ?Such that any story about the Civil War or with antecedents in ?the Civil War (such as this story) ?must include head on the central issue of the Civil War, which was slavery.

(Oh, and stir into the pot for the Western genre the issue of systematic policies of appropriation of the land and extermination of the Native American population and their cultural identity.)

fwiw