The year is 1845; three families cross the Oregon desert to immigrate under Meek’s guide. The male characters drive the main narrative of this movie if this film is considered a road movie because men decide which direction the three families will take. Women are just observing the men's decisions. However, the cameras are not located where men are discussing but on a site where women are watching. Because the cameras are positioned on the surrounding characters rather than the center of the narrative, the movie often shows the daily labor of women picking up branches, setting fires, and hanging out laundry, as Chantal Akerman did in Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (1975).
Even though the male characters mostly take the lead in the narrative, the most memorable scene is the moment when Emily, the female protagonist played by Michelle Williams, changes the direction of the narrative. The moment Emily pulls out the gun, the direction of the three families is determined, and the act of pulling out the gun is derived from "kindness" rather than violence. It is a new masterpiece of the Western genre that attempts to restore the gaze of women, who are excluded by the male group, to bring women to the fore. [PARK Minseok]