The Yellowstone franchise is returning in a major way with Marshalls airing on CBS and Dutton Ranch set to hit Paramount+, you may be searching for some other great neo-Westerns to sink into. Perhaps it’s time to move just south of the border with a 2005 feature film that you probably had no idea even existed. A few years before he would star in No Country for Old Men (another great neo-Western you’ve got to see), actor Tommy Lee Jones took center stage in the powerful and moving picture, The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada. Sometimes just called Three Burials, the film follows a rancher named Pete Perkins (Jones) as he seeks justice for the death of his friend, whom he hopes to bury in his Mexican hometown. If you loved all the time the latest season of Yellowstone spent down in Texas, then Three Burials is an easy next step.
‘The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada’ Is a Powerful Neo-Western Classic
WhileYellowstone spent a lot of time focusing on land development plots and grand political drama,Three Burialsis a more personal tale, one that involves murder and a Don Quixote-like journey through the United States-Mexico desert wilderness. Just asKevin Costner‘s John Duttontook his promises quite literally, so too does Pete Perkins. After his friend, Melquiades Estrada (Julio Cedillo), is murdered and buried with no official investigation (his illegal status being a barrier for local law enforcement), Pete takes it into his own hands to see that he’s buried properly in the Mexican homeland he came from. Of course, this means that Melquiades isn’t just buried once or even twice, but three times in the film, hence the name.
One thing that makes Three Burials stand out are the almost Rashomon-like flashbacks used throughout. The film is littered with them, and if you’re not careful, the timeline could easily get confusing. Yet, each dive back into the past is vital to our understanding of the full context of Pete’s mission, and his reasons for kidnapping U.S. Boarder Patrol operative Mike Norton (Barry Pepper, who played “Lucky” Ned Pepper in the 2010 True Grit remake). It turns out, Mike is the man responsible for Melquiades’ unwarranted death, and it’s a weight that has stuck with him ever since. As Pete forces Mike through the desert waste of West Texas, the pair begin to change as a result of their bizarre journey, which includes rattlesnake encounters, television soap operas, and a twist that Pete didn’t see coming.
We won’t spoil the ending of The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada for you, but it’s that final scene between Pete and Mike that’s the most powerful. Even in the face of death, sadness, and pure brokenness of body, mind, and soul, there is beauty in the way these two are able to finally move past the thing that bonded them together in the first place. For a movie that loves to meditate on death and decay in all its forms (both physically and emotionally), Three Burials is a modern horse opera you can’t ignore.
Tommy Lee Jones Offers a Harsh But Forgiving Portrayal of the Modern West
Of course, a lot of that is because of Tommy Lee Jones, who is at his best here not just as an actor, but as a filmmaker as well. That’s right, Three Burials was indeed directed by Jones himself, who offers a distinct vision for this neo-Western tale. As a director, he effortlessly pulls from the great Westerns of old while making a distinct splash with a bizarre plot and complicated characters who embody the restlessness of West Texas’ Permian Basin (yes, the same place that the Taylor Sheridan drama Landman is set). While Yellowstone is a show that often lets its characters ride into the sunset (and scot-free of the consequences of their actions), Three Burials puts both rancher and border agent through the ringer as they are confronted by the horrors of their actions. As a result, their lives will never be the same.
If you’ve been on the prowl for a new neo-Western drama, one that’s been utterly forgotten by time itself, then The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada is the feature to sink your teeth into. It’s thoughtful, violent, and very specific, but an interesting tale nonetheless. While Taylor Sheridan may offer a more bleak look at the modern American west as the world continues to change, Tommy Lee Jones gives us the perfect cowboy quest that offers just a little bit more. The film doesn’t just prove that Jones is capable as a director (in only his second feature), but it gives the audience hope that, perhaps, even the worst aren’t beyond redemption.
