Set against the misty backdrop of the Arkansas Ozark Mountains, the awkwardly named Violent Ends is a gritty Southern revenge thriller with a surprisingly human heart. Billy Magnussen (The Big Short) stars as Lucas Frost, a man desperate to leave behind his family’s bloody legacy and build a quiet life with his fiancée, Emma (Alexandra Shipp, Barbie).
But when his reckless cousin Eli – there’s always a cousin involved when in Arkansas – sparks a chain of violence with a botched armed robbery, Lucas is forced back into the underworld he swore off, where loyalty and vengeance blur into one. And take the word of this author who grew up in the state. The backwoods of Arkansas is not a place you want to be caught up in a family feud. No fight ever ends well in Arkansas.
Writer/Director John-Michael Powell keeps his story lean but emotionally charged, layering family drama with the cutting edge of a classic crime saga. What begins as a tale of hope and love soon spirals into a collision of pride, power, and payback, all simmering under the sticky Southern heat of Arkansas. Magnussen gives his Lucas a tortured charisma—part hero, part doomed soul, while Shipp brings warmth and strength to her Emma, the calm eye in a storm of blood and betrayal.
Though Violent Ends may wear the familiar clothes of a revenge thriller, it adds a dash of Southern gothic charm and a whisper of tragedy, making it a story that’s as much about breaking free from family legacy as it is about the price of doing so.
Powell’s message hits like a whiskey shot — fiery and bold, but eventually smoother than you expect. On its surface, it’s a revenge thriller about a man pulled back into his family’s dark criminal underbelly after a brutal act of violence. But beneath the grit and gunfire, Powell crafts something far more operatic — a soulful exploration of family, morality, and the thin line between vengeance and redemption. It’s what The Godfather did for Italian gangsters, transposed to the American South and soaked in the dust and sweat of Arkansas backroads.
And then there’s Lucas’s nemesis: the venomous Sid Frost, played by James Badge Dale. Sid is the kind of villain that crawls under your skin. He’s charming, yet terrifying, and utterly magnetic, all at the same time. He’s the bad guy’s bad guy, the one you can’t look away from even as you’re praying he gets his comeuppance.
Powell fills his Southern revenge tale with the mythic resonance of a Western. You can feel the dusty DNA of The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance and Once Upon a Time in the West in every frame. The South isn’t just a backdrop here — it’s alive, moody, and humming with contradictions.
Cinematographer Elijah Guess deserves major credit for turning the rural South setting into a living, breathing character. Every tree is draped in Spanish moss, every field stretches toward something unseen and inevitable.
Even Powell’s smaller choices stand out: making the local sheriff a woman and mother (a stellar turn by Kate Burton) adds depth and balance to a world otherwise ruled by masculine codes of honor and blood.
Yes, the film’s sprawling family tree can be a bit difficult to follow despite its opening title cards, which attempt to lay out the family dynamic. But once you get settled in, Violent Ends rewards you with something rare — a revenge thriller that actually has a beating heart and a lively spirit. Brutal, beautiful, and bursting with Southern soul, Violent Ends is one of the year’s sneakiest and most unforgettable rides.
MPAA Rating: R.
Runtime: 112 mins
Director: John-Michael Powell
Writer: John-Michael Powell
Cast: Billy Magnussen; Kate Burton; Sean Harrison Jones
Genre: Drama | Crime
Tagline: This isn't Revenge. it's a Reckoing.
Memorable Movie Quote: "If someone gets in your way, yu get them out of your way."
Distributor: IFC Films
Official Site:
Release Date: October 31, 2025
DVD/Blu-ray Release Date:
Synopsis: A southern revenge thriller of star-crossed lovers set against the backdrop of the Ozark Mountains, Violent Ends chronicles the life of Lucas Frost, an honest man brought up in a crime family whose only legacy is violence.
