As the dust begins to settle on another long, dry summer, Ned Crowley (Middle Man) returns with Killing Faith — a stark and unforgiving tale set in 1849 Arizona, a land scorched by sun, haunted by fear, and shadowed by something far more insidious. Arriving in cinemas this Friday via Shout! Studios, the film trades in six-shooter blazing for something much darker and more patient; a Western that doesn’t ride in on worn-out tropes, but carves its own trail – thick with doubt, desperation, and a creeping dread that follows close and strikes without warning.
In Killing Faith, the West is shaped not only by its barren desert and sparse settlements but by a sickness that spreads like a fire, threatening to wipe out what’s left of the people. As the plague moves through Arizona, whispers begin to rise around a young girl, thought to be cursed by the devil. As fear and suspicion tighten their grip on the land, one man must face an impossible decision — flee from the spreading hysteria, or stay and protect a child marked for damnation.
At the heart of the film is Dr. Bender, a jaded physician whose belief has long since crumbled into dust. Played by Oscar-nominated Guy Pearce (Brimstone, The Proposition, Ravenous), Bender is tasked with escorting a desperate mother (DeWanda Wise – Jurassic World: Dominion, The Harder They Fall, Poolman) through the unforgiving desert in a fight against the world’s inevitable cruelty — and the terrifying unknown that follows in the wake of the child she seeks to protect.
With a stellar supporting cast including Jamie Neumann (“Lovecraft Country”, “NOS4A2”), Jack Alcott (“Dexter: Resurrection”, “The Good Lord Bird”), Emily Ford (“Outer Range”), and Bill Pullman (The Serpent and the Rainbow, Brain Dead, Surveillance), Killing Faith unfolds not as a race against time, but as a deliberate descent into the things we hide behind: myth, fear, and salvation.
Ahead of the film’s release, CinemaChords’ Ashley Northey sat down with Wise to talk about the role, the harsh terrain — both physical and psychological — and what it means to hold onto hope in a world that insists it’s already lost.
