Butcher's Crossing

Butcher's Crossing is a 2022 American Western drama film directed by Gabe Polsky in his narrative feature film debut, based on the 1960 novel of the same name by John Edward Williams. It stars Nicolas Cage, Fred Hechinger, Xander Berkeley, Rachel Keller, Jeremy Bobb, and Paul Raci. It had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 9, 2022. It was released by Saban Films on October 20, 2023. Plot Naive pastor's son, Will, has dropped out of Harvard and travels to Butcher's Crossing, a tiny frontier town in Kansas built on the buffalo hide trade. He wishes to see as much of the country as he can and experience the 'Wild West'. Sold on the romanticism of going on a buffalo hunt, Will seeks out McDonald, a former acquaintance of his father's, who currently runs the waning buffalo trade for the town. When McDonald refuses to oblige the young man, Will falls in with Miller, an intense and experienced buffalo hunter who spins him a tale of a remote Colorado pass where one of the few remaining massive herds can be found. Though warned about Miller and the folly of this enterprise, Will puts up all of his money to fund the expedition.