Seraphim Falls Perfectly Paired Two Aging Action Icons in a Bloody Western

The revisionist Western film Seraphim Falls was completely ignored in 2007 when the film received a limited theatrical release and grossed less than $500,000 at the domestic box office against a production cost of $18 million. Moreover, Seraphim Falls failed to attract a sizable post-theatrical audience over the ensuing 15 years, despite the presence of worldwide stars Liam Neeson and Pierce Brosnan.

Seraphim Falls toiled in obscurity until 2024 when the film debuted on Netflix and much belatedly became one of the streaming service’s most-viewed films. However, unlike many other films that have been reborn on Netflix, like the 2017 action-thriller film American Assassin, Seraphim Falls had been completely forgotten prior to its revival on Netflix. Indeed, while American Assassin, which grossed nearly $70 million at the worldwide box office, was merely a box-office failure prior to its emergence on Netflix, the age and prolonged obscurity of Seraphim Falls makes its streaming resurgence a true anomaly.

Liam Neeson Hunts Pierce Brosnan in Tense Revenge Western

Seraphim Falls marks the only screen pairing of Liam Neeson and Pierce Brosnan, who were born in Ireland approximately one year apart and grew up with a shared affinity for Western mythology. Perhaps because of their distinctly different screen personas, with Neeson’s solemnity and stoicism and Brosnan’s charm and handsomeness, Neeson and Brosnan form a compelling adversarial relationship in Seraphim Falls.

Seraphim Falls doesn’t waste any time in establishing Neeson and Brosnan’s conflict. The post-American Civil War film opens within the Ruby Mountains of Nevada, where Brosnan’s Gideon, a former Union officer, roasts an animal over an open fire before being shot by a four-man posse of bounty hunters led by Neeson’s Carver, a former Confederate colonel who holds Gideon responsible for the burning deaths of Carver’s wife and children. While Carver declares his intention to kill Gideon, Carver, in a testament to how his desire for revenge has tarnished his humanity, Carver first wants Gideon to bleed and suffer as much as possible.

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This opening scene heralds a continuous, relentless chase, in which Gideon, after being shot in his left arm, barely has time to rest while trying to escape Carver’s posse. Like what happens to Harrison Ford’s titular character in The Fugitive, Seraphim Falls generates a morbid sense of enjoyment, both for the audience and Carver, in terms of how Gideon, like Ford’s character, must navigate a gauntlet of perilous situations to survive and be free.

Seraphim Falls Has Been Transformed Through Netflix

The unusual trajectory that Seraphim Falls has taken over the past 17 years, from failure and obscurity to the film’s unexpected resurgence on Netflix, is emblematic of how the lines of definition between film and television and streaming have become increasingly blurred to the point of being nearly indivisible. Indeed, while Seraphim Falls wasn’t appealing to audiences in its brief theatrical life, the film is perfectly suited for Netflix, where most viewers who watched the film were doubtlessly unaware of the film’s previous existence. Moreover, while Seraphim Falls — which had a mediocre audience and critical rating prior to its debut on Netflix — may not be worth the price of a theatrical ticket, it’s certainly worth watching on Netflix, where Seraphim Falls embodies the term cinematic television.

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The newfound popularity of Seraphim Falls demonstrates the continually evolving process of film consumption and the extent to which previously overlooked films can redefine their legacies. The resurgence of Seraphim Falls is also a testament to the continually shifting nature of audience sentiment, specifically in terms of the cyclical popularity of the Western genre. This resurgence also proves that the ultimate fate of a theatrical film can perhaps no longer be determined solely through its theatrical run and that the legacies of previously overlooked films like Seraphim Falls will continue to evolve and shift over time as long as outlets like Netflix enable audiences from multiple generations to discover films like Seraphim Falls.

More Brosnan and Neeson Flops Could Be Rediscovered

The renewed popularity that Seraphim Falls has experienced on Netflix has been variously attributed to the film’s agreeably familiar revenge plot, beautiful scenery, and especially the welcome presence of Liam Neeson and Pierce Brosnan, specifically in terms of the enduring popularity of the James Bond and Taken franchises. While Neeson and Brosnan’s star power clearly had no effect on Seraphim Falls upon the film’s limited theatrical release, the continually accruing genre identification and popularity that Brosnan and Neeson have gained over the past 17 years has undoubtedly played a major role in the film’s resurgence on Netflix.

Moreover, given the streaming popularity of Seraphim Falls, several of Neeson and Brosnan’s other overlooked genre films might also be poised to be rediscovered on Netflix. Prior to Seraphim Falls, Brosnan gave perhaps his best film performance as an eccentric assassin in the 2005 black comedy crime film The Matador. However, while the film and Brosnan’s performance received excellent reviews, The Matador was a box-office disappointment.

Another prime candidate for Netflix resurrection within Brosnan’s career is the 2014 spy action-thriller The November Man, which was intended to be a franchise starter but was a box-office disappointment. Moreover, Brosnan has proved to be quite a draw on Netflix, where Brosnan’s 2023 Netflix action comedy film The Out-Laws overcame terrible reviews to become one of the streaming service’s most-viewed films. Like Brosnan, Neeson has starred in a stream of nondescript thriller films over the past decade, including Blacklight, Honest Thief, Memory, and Retribution, all of which await redemption on Netflix, with which Neeson’s career, like Brosnan’s, has formed an increasingly symbiotic relationship over the past five years.

Stream Seraphim Falls on Netflix.