Directed by Dara Van Dusen – Screenplay by Dara Van Dusen.
Following its world premiere at this year’s Berlinale, the western-adjacent drama, A Prayer for the Dying, from debut feature filmmaker Dara Van Dusen, just had its North American premiere at Fantastic Fest 2026. As part of my remote coverage of the latter festival, I got the opportunity to watch this ambitious debut. Dusen’s Western-adjacent debut, which is being prepared for a post-festival US theatrical release on October 9th, contains fascinating surreal imagery, pitch-black dark character predicaments, and a challenging role for its competent leading man. Although it has some blemishes, I thought it was mostly quite effective.
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