Reviewed by Colin Jacobson (July 23, 2025)
Some films become tough to judge objectively due tragedies that occurred during production. 2024’s Rust falls into this category, but I’ll attempt to view the movie in its own light.
Set in Wyoming circa 1882, orphaned 13-year-old Lucas Hollister (Patrick Scott McDermott) must care for his family’s land on his own and raise his younger brother Jacob (Easton Malcolm). When Lucas attempts to shoot at a wolf that threatens his livestock, he hits and kills Charles Gantry (Gabriel Clark) instead.
Because Lucas and Gantry went through a confrontation prior to this event, the court decides Lucas committed premeditated murder and a judge (James Cody) sentences him to death. Lucas’s estranged grandfather Harland Rust (Alec Baldwin) breaks him out of prison and sends the two on the lam, all while chased by a variety of parties.
Anyone who reads this review probably knows the backstory of this film’s production, but I’ll recap nonetheless. During a rehearsal in October 2021, Baldwin’s gun went off and accidentally shot a live round that killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and wounded writer/director Joel Souza.
This suspended production until April 2023 and they wrapped within a month. However, the film sat in the can until a premiere in Poland (!) in November 2024, and it got a token US theatrical release in May 2025, one that took in an extremely negligible sum.
As with other movies that suffered tragic productions, there always becomes the question about whether or not they should see the light of day. Rust certainly doesn’t exist as the first flick to find theaters after a controversial on-set incident.
However, Rust might be the first flick to involve a major movie star whose actions – accidental though they may’ve been – caused someone’s death. That separates it from other infamous on-set fatalities during the creation of movies like 1983’s Twilight Zone: The Movie and 1994’s The Crow.
As noted at the start of this review, I want to try to examine Rust outside of its tragic context. That becomes difficult, especially when the end product feels so lackluster.
On the positive side, I like the brutal depiction of the US frontier. Any movie in which we see a 13-year-old sentenced to hang scores some points for its willingness to go down a dark path.
Rust also offers terrific cinematography. The late Hutchins and subsequent DP Bianca Cline give the film an appealing rustic vibe that always looks great.
Other the negative side… well, pretty much everything else. Actually, we get perfectly competent acting, though I can’t claim Baldwin or any of his costars distinguish themselves.
Still, they hold up their side of the bargain despite a script that creates completely banal characters. Neither Rust nor Lucas nor the various folks who come after those two ever seem even vaguely fleshed out or interesting.
And that becomes an issue. I find it tough to invest in a “run to freedom” tale like this when I don’t care about the leads or their pursuers.
Rust also steers away from Rust and Lucas too much of the time. With too many characters who chase after those two, the story flits from spot to spot too often and lacks real clarity.
At its core, a narrative like this should probably spend about two-thirds of its time with those two leads and then another one-third with those who come after them. It should also find a small group of antagonists at most.
Rust just never becomes coherent in the manner it needs to prosper. With its thin characters and loose plot, it muddles a simplistic tale and never quite hits the mark.
