The Missouri Breaks (1976)

In Arthur Penn’s 1976 Western, Tom Logan is a horse thief trying to go straight, and Lee Clayton is the strange, ruthless, eccentric regulator hired to hunt him down. On the wide Montana frontier, nobody’s hands are truly clean, and justice looks a lot like revenge.

Seen through a Christian lens, The Missouri Breaks shows what happens when people appoint themselves judge, jury, and executioner. Clayton hides cruelty behind the law, while Logan longs for a settled, honest life. The film reminds us that vengeance never satisfies, and only a holy and merciful God judges rightly.

“Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath.” Romans 12:19