Scott Eastwood’s overlooked 2015 western starring Walton Goggins is packed with twists and turns

When your father is the Man with No Name himself, making your first western always has its share of pitfalls. Unfortunately, Scott Eastwood’s 2015 effort, “Diablo,” fell short of many of them while on its way to mediocre critical scores. But with Walton Goggins in a supporting role and plenty of twists and turns, the film might well be worth watching for Western and Goggins fans looking for something to fill the void of “White Lotus.”

Clint Eastwood didn’t just become the epitome of a revisionist Western protagonist with his role in Sergio Leone’s “Dollars” trilogy. He also directed what many consider the quintessential revisionist western with 1992’s “Unforgiven.” Add to that the fact that the man is a legend of cinema in general, and his son was always going to struggle to match his father’s success, sailor or otherwise.

With that in mind, “Diablo” really wasn’t as bad as it could have been. The western also served as a psychological thriller co-written and directed by Lawrence Roeck. The Canadian filmmaker hasn’t directed a feature film since “Diablo,” but he previously directed the 2011 drama “The Forger.” That film starred Clint Eastwood’s ex-wife, Dina Eastwood, and was filmed in Carmel-by-the-Sea, the town that made Eastwood its mayor in the 1980s. It also starred Scott Eastwood in a minor role, but in 2015, Roeck promoted Eastwood’s young heir apparent to star in “Diablo.” Unfortunately, it didn’t do much better than “The Forger”, although the film is not entirely devoid of charm.

In 2015, Scott Eastwood had appeared but had not acted in any of his father’s films (which remains the case in 2026) and had not yet directed his first western. “Diablo” changed the latter. After being born in Canada, Lawrence Roeck grew up alongside Eastwood in Carmel-by-the-Sea, and he revealed during an interview with The Movie Sleuth in 2016 that he once “saved” [Eastwood] in Carmel bar fight at Hogs Breath [bar]This, he noted, helped convince the actor to make his first western with Roeck.

“Diablo” was the result. It stars a young Eastwood as Jackson, an American Civil War veteran whose house and barn are burned by Mexican bandits. Worse yet, the bandits take Jackson’s wife, Alexsandra (Camilla Belle), just before he succumbs to the smoke of the fire, leaving him helpless as his life is destroyed. The next morning, however, Jackson wakes up with vengeance on his mind. He digs up a package buried in his barn and sets off in search of his wife and her kidnappers. Meanwhile, Walton Goggins — himself a Western veteran thanks to his role as Boyd Crowder on FX’s “Justified” — plays Ezra, a mysterious stranger who runs into Jackson and seems to disappear at any moment. Of course, as the film progresses, we learn that all is not as it seems, with a major twist that shakes up the entire plot.

Roeck told The Movie Sleuth that with “Diablo” he tried “not to make the film for the die-hard Western fan” but rather a “really authentic” film set in the 1800s “for the psychological thriller fan.” Unfortunately, the critics weren’t impressed either way.

When “Diablo” was released, it received harsh reviews. As a result, the film sits at 20% on Rotten Tomatoes at the time of writing, with RogerEbert.com’s Odie Henderson dismissing its big twist as ineffective. Andrew Barker of Variety, however, wrote that this same twist “is not without promise”, even if it is “clumsily handled”. Either way, it’s not like “Diablo” has absolutely nothing to offer.

For one thing, the movie was shot by Dean Cundey, who has worked on everything from the “Back to the Future” trilogy and “Jurassic Park” to the stunningly revamped modern Christmas classic “The Holiday.” As such, there’s absolutely no problem with the film’s visuals, which are quite striking at times. The Letterboxd audience also seems to have liked “Diablo” a little more than the critics, although there is no shortage of bad reviews on that website either.

More importantly, there’s the fact that this is the first western from Scott Eastwood, who left the One Chicago franchise in 2013 and stayed completely away from oaters before his collaboration with Lawrence Roeck. Given the reviews, one could argue that he should have continued to avoid his father’s shadow in this regard, but any Clint Eastwood fan will surely be excited to see their son in his first Western – especially since the film pays homage to the elder Eastwood’s Western work at various points. If nothing else, then you should watch “Diablo” for some neat little Western Easter eggs and to see how Scott lives up to his father’s legacy.

As of this writing, “Diablo” is only available for purchase on Fandango at Home and is absent from other major digital platforms (including Prime Video and Apple TV).