Families are something that every person cherishes in their lives. People might have estranged relationships within the family, but when it comes to helping someone, they don’t bat an eye and are ready for it. There are several marriages that have lasted through thick and thin. Such marriages are often cited as examples of a loving and understanding partnership between a couple. The individuals who plan to spend their lives with each other must be allowed to have control over their own decisions. When that control is taken away, the relationship between that couple also strains. There have been instances where the children passed away at a young age. The grieving parents grieve and live on with the memories they have. If the late child was married, then their spouses remain connected to the family if the situation is amicable. Familial ties can get a little messy sometimes, but they are not something that can be broken so easily. “Let Him Go,” starring Kevin Costner, and Diane Lane is a strong commentary on what makes a family and how those filial ties can make one do the impossible.
Spoilers Ahead
‘Let Him Go’ Plot Synopsis: What Happens In The Film?
It is a fairly simple film that tells the story of an elderly couple, Margaret and George Blackledge who live with their son James and his family consisting of wife Lorna and a young son Jimmy. One day, just after breakfast, Margaret sees that their horse has come back, but her son James hasn’t. She sends her husband, George, to check out the situation, and he finds their son dead. Soon after, Jimmy’s wife, Lorna, remarries a man named Donnie Weboy. She takes Jimmy with her to her new home. Despite having lost their son, Margaret and George continue to care for Lorna and Jimmy. They visit Lorna after her marriage as well. One day, when Margaret is in town, she finds Donnie misbehaving with Lorna, and he hits her in the street as well. He does not care for Jimmy either, or he bullies him. This worries Margaret, and she informs George. Later, when Margaret visits Lorna’s new home, she finds that the Weboys have moved. She grows increasingly worried for her grandson and her former daughter-in-law. She finds Donnie’s behavior very suspicious and unsettling. She gathers all the materials from her house and readies the car to find Lorna and Jimmy. When George comes home, he finds her behavior an extreme reaction, but he supports her, nonetheless. The elderly couple then set out on a cross-country journey to find Lorna and Jimmy.
When they reach the limits of Dakota, they ask around among the locals for any information on the Weboys. The Weboys are a mysterious bunch of people. During one of their inquiries, they meet a young Native American boy named Peter. Considering the history of the land, Peter is scared of the Blackledges. But the young boy and the elderly couple manage to warm up to each other on the grounds of humanity and shared affection. Finally, after a few days, they meet a cousin of Donnie’s, who takes them to Donnie and Lorna. George and Margaret do not have a good feeling about this from the start, but they manage to keep their calm and navigate their way to Lorna and Jimmy. When they reach Donnie’s house, they are met with Blanche Weboy, Donnie’s mother. From the looks of it, she is a woman who would invite trouble. She smokes at the dinner table and is also quite hostile toward her guests. She issues thinly veiled threats to the Blackledges. She lives with two more sons. Their presence is no less than a silent threat to the Blackledges. When Donnie, Lorna, and Jimmy come back home, Blanche barely lets Margaret meet her grandson. The next day, Margaret and George meet Lorna at the place where she works and asks her to come away with them. Lorna is visibly scared of her mother-in-law and how she will react to this. But she braves the impulse and agrees to join the Blackledges. The Blackledges are staying at a motel, and they hear a knock at the time they decide to meet Lorna at night. When they open the door, they find that it is Donnie’s brothers and cousin who have come to threaten the Blackledges. Then there ensues a physical fight between all of them. The Weboys overpower George and chop off his fingers. Margaret is shocked and stunned but manages to take George to the hospital. After the incident, when the policeman arrives to investigate the matter, it is clear that he is on the Weboy’s side. He does not mention it explicitly, but he warns the Blackledges to leave the Weboys alone. When they leave, George feels sick again due to his amputated fingers. Margaret remembers the Native American boy named Peter they met earlier and turns towards his cottage. Margaret wonders how it would be to live with Peter in the middle of nowhere but also close to Lorna and Jimmy. George is frustrated and angry to hear this opinion. He rejects Margaret’s idea, but he understands her concerns. The same night, he takes his car and drives up to the Weboys’ house with his shotgun. Margaret wakes up to find him gone and rushes off behind him with Peter on his horse.
Back at the Weboy house, George manages to sneak in, and he also sets up a few booby traps. He manages to get Lorna and Jimmy out, but Donnie’s brothers wake up and notice the situation. There ensues another violent battle between the Weboys and George. Donnie’s cousin is accidentally shot by Blanche. The other two brothers were also shot dead. Lorna and Jimmy rush out and are met by Margaret. When she rushes inside, she sees that George has been fatally shot by Blanche. She knows that his time is near, and she whispers good memories in his ears. Blanche Weboy is killed by Margaret. The house had caught fire by then because of George’s booby traps. George and the Weboy family burn to ashes along with the house. Margaret bids Peter goodbye. Lorna, Jimmy, and Margaret get into the car and drive away. They drive just as the sun rises above the horizon.
‘Let Him Go’ Ending Explained – What Happens To Lorna And Jimmy? What Do The Blackledges Do At The End?
Towards the end of the movie, we see that George has passed away in the scuffle with the Weboys to take back Lorna and Jimmy. Margaret, Lorna, and Jimmy drive towards their home. As the trio heads home, the sun just rises above the horizon, symbolizing a new start for them. The Blackledges are reunited, but at the cost of George’s life. Margaret, who is still shaken and heartbroken over her husband’s death, drives her former daughter-in-law and grandson back home. When Lorna was married to James, the equation between her and Margaret was not the strongest. The women acknowledge their differences when they are reunited. There is a promise of settling the differences and starting over. The movie is set in the 1960s, when women were fairly dependent on men for their well-being. After the deaths of James and George, the Blackledge family is left with two women and a young child. The future seems a little rough for them, for they have a long way to go to achieve some semblance of peace and regularity in their lives. They have had their differences, and it will take some time to work things out.
“Let Him Go” is a strong commentary on filial relationships. The Blackledges could have just taken their grandson and left Lorna to the Weboys. But it was their humanity and sense of belonging towards their daughter-in-law that made them take drastic measures to get both of them back safe and sound. Through the tale of the Blackledges, the makers of the movie have managed to set a narrative where family comes first.
Peter, the young Native American boy that the couple meets, is an interesting addition to the tale. Through his brief appearance, light is shed upon the injustice inflicted upon the Native Americans by the whites. Even after so many years, the feelings of fear and distrust were still very much present in the minds of the Native American. They were robbed of their identity and treated as lowly creatures. Peter’s short monologue about his life is ample proof of the condition his community had been in and was still in. Margaret and George are an interesting couple as well. Considering the times, they were living in, they were quite progressive as well. Margaret was a woman of opinion and strong instinct, and George respected that. He listened to his wife when she had something to say. The couple was never shown to make decisions without holding a discussion. Be it anger or sadness; the couple was close enough to each other to fully open up and express themselves. They had healthy communication, and that is what made their relationship stronger.
Movies like “Let Him Go” are difficult to come by. The pacing of the movie is slow, and it is also needed for the viewers to fully immerse into the time it is set in and also to understand the gravity of the instances happening.
“Let Him Go” is a 2020 Drama Thriller film directed by Thomas Bezucha.
