American Primeval – Review | Netflix

AMERICAN PRIMEVAL on Netflix is a new mini-series with six strong episodes. Witness the gritty and violent birth of the American West. The series stars Betty Gilpin and Taylor Kitsch in a brilliant cast. Read our full American Primeval series review here!

AMERICAN PRIMEVAL is a new Netflix series that takes place in Utah in 1857. This is America but only in its very infancy. Still, the people – and the battles or challenges, they face – feel familiar. Some things never really change, I suppose.

Each episode is between 36 minutes and 1 hour and 3 minutes, but I binge-watched them in one sitting. You should expect to do the same, if at all possible. This gritty and violent world, reminiscent in style of The Revenant (though with women as well), is definitely worth your time.

Continue reading our American Primeval series review below. Find it on Netflix from January 9, 2025.

Get ready to explore the American frontier

In the new Netflix series American Primeval, we’re confronted with the brutal wilderness of the American West. Indigenous people are still trying to hold on to land that is rightfully theirs while a Mormon group is doing their best to make it their Zion.

Sara Rowell (Betty Gilpin of The Hunt and GLOW) is trying to mind her own business. Alone with her young son, Devin, she’s doing her best to get safely to the boy’s father, who left years earlier to become a goldminer out in the West.

Before long, she has lost her guide and her group. A decent man, Jim Bridger (Shea Whigham), who runs Fort Bridger, tries to help the woman and her son. Mostly because he’s fascinated by her tenacity and because he seems more fair than most.

However, as soon as Sara finds new people to take the treacherous trip with, some new tragedy hits. Isaac Reed (Taylor Kitsch of Painkiller) could help, but he wants nothing more than to be left alone. In a roundabout way, Two Moons (Shawnee Pourier), a Shoshone fleeing her village, joins them.

Several Native storylines and a huge cast

Also, as the Shoshone warrior, Red Feather, determined to defend his people, we have Derek Hinkey. As the leader of the Shoshone Tribe – and mother of Red Feather – we have Winter Bird (Irene Bedard).

She wants peace to maintain her way of life and make peace with the American government. Something her son (rightfully, time has shown) doesn’t believe is possible.

WORTH NOTING ABOUT THE NATIVE STORYLINES

Julie O’Keefe served as Indigenous Cultural Consultant and Project Advisor – read an interview about the authenticity of the Netflix series here >

Other key cast members include Dane DeHaan (The Staircase) as the Mormon Jacob Pratt traveling with his new wife, Abish (Saura Lightfoot-Leon). Jai Courtney (Kaleidoscope) plays a cruel bounty hunter.

We follow many characters in this Netflix series, but you should prepare to see most of them die. No matter how famous the actor portraying a character is, no one is safe in the American Frontier.

Witness the gritty birth of the American West

American Primeval shows America in 1857. Specifically, it shows Utah in this period nearly 170 years ago. While this Netflix series is a fictionalized dramatization, the story includes several real-life people.

In American Primeval, we’re at the very beginning of the West being “conquered” to be part of the USA. After all, this was only around ten years after California became a U.S. state. Just to put everything into perspective.

However, we’re not in California for this story, but rather witnessing an extremely gritty and violent time in Utah. A time where the violent collision of culture, religion, and community results in many deaths.

The Mormon Militia

The Netflix series American Primeval shows us men and women who fight (and very often die) to keep or control land in Utah. Also, you’ll become acquainted with the Mormon Militia – two words I would never expect to see combined, but here we are.

Hatred and fear are the dominating forces and don’t leave much space for peace or diplomacy. Money and power are the second-most important things, but they are tied up in land as well, so the battle of Utah is always at the center.

Brigham Young founded Salt Lake City and served as the first governor of the Utah Territory. He is a key figure in American Primeval. He was also the second president of the LDS Church, following its founder Joseph Smith.

This real person is portrayed by Kim Coates (Sons of Anarchy) in American Primeval and he does an excellent job.

Not everyone will like what this story shows, but it is largely based on proven facts. Still, some people insist on feeling persecuted – even in situations where they were clearly the persecutors themselves.

Watch American Primeval on Netflix now!

American Primeval comes from creator Mark L. Smith, who is also the writer of this series. Mark L. Smith previously wrote The Revenant (2015), so it’s no coincidence that this Netflix series feels like it’s somehow related to that particular movie.

He also wrote the wild WW2 zombie movie Overlord (2018), the sci-fi drama The Midnight Sky (2020), and Twisters (2024). However, he has also worked extensively in horror, from his 2006 feature debut Séance to Vacancy (2007), and the 2015 Martyrs remake.

The director is Pete Berg (Painkiller), who also has a cameo in episode 1, so keep your eye out for him. Both creator Mark L. Smith and director Peter Berg are also executive producers alongside Eric Newman (Griselda) and Alex Gayner (A Murder at the End of the World).

While officially, this is a limited series, the ending leaves plenty of room for further exploration of the story – or maybe a spin-off or two. Without giving any spoilers, I do feel a need to mention that many characters die in these six episodes.

If the series is a success (which it should be) and continues with more seasons or spin-offs (which I hope it will), then only a select few characters from the story of these six episodes are left. Do not miss out on this story, but try not to get too attached to any of the characters.

American Primeval is on Netflix globally from January 9, 2025.

Details

Director: Pete Berg
Writer: Mark L. Smith
Cast: Taylor Kitsch, Betty Gilpin, Dane DeHaan, Shea Whigham, Joe Tippett, Jai Courtney, Kyle Bradley Davis, Dane DeHaan, Lucas Neff, Derek Hinkey, Saura Lightfoot Leon, Preston Mota, Shawnee Pourier