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Purgatory

Purgatory

Fantasy · Western · TV Movie · 1999

An outlaw band flees a posse and rides into Refuge, a small town where no one carries a gun, drinks, or swears. The town is actually Purgatory, and the peaceful inhabitants are all famous dead outlaws and criminals such as Doc Holiday and Wild Bill Hickok who must redeem themselves before gaining admittance to Heaven... or screw up and go to Hell.

Movie details

Purgatory

1999 Fantasy · Western · TV Movie 1h 34m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

7.2 / 10

Community rating

An outlaw band flees a posse and rides into Refuge, a small town where no one carries a gun, drinks, or swears. The town is actually Purgatory, and the peaceful inhabitants are all famous dead outlaws and criminals such as Doc Holiday and Wild Bill Hickok who must redeem themselves before gaining admittance to Heaven... or screw up and go to Hell.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over Purgatory?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Twitches Too

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Love's Enduring Promise

Love's Enduring Promise

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Where it lives

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Uli Edel

Written by

Gordon T. Dawson

Sam Shepard

Sam Shepard

Sheriff Forrest / Wild Bill Hickock

Eric Roberts

Eric Roberts

Blackjack Britton

Randy Quaid

Randy Quaid

Doc Woods / Doc Holliday

Peter Stormare

Peter Stormare

Cavin Guthrie

Brad Rowe

Brad Rowe

Leon 'Sonny' Miller

Donnie Wahlberg

Donnie Wahlberg

Deputy Glen / Billy the Kid

JD Souther

JD Souther

Brooks / Jesse James

Court is in session

Put Purgatory on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Auteur Devotee

“Ambition earns the room.”

The film reaches for consequence and scale, accepting the risk of seriousness instead of shrinking from it.

The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist

“Importance has entered the chat.”

The production keeps announcing its significance, as though awards-season posture were proof of insight.