Setting: Rural America

tender Mercies

Robert Duvall sings

This is where Robert showed Jeff Bridges how it’s done—it actually feels quite similar to Crazy Heart in some ways.



Country (1984)

I’d throw Mississippi Burning into the mix as well.

Such a great topic that just slipped through the cracks..

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3788052/?ref_=tt_rec_tti

Corner Gas, released back in 2014, set in rural Canada—it’s honestly just a super chill, feel-good little show. 🙂

Total classics right here...

Blood Simple (1984)
The Hitcher (1986)
Witness (1985)
Misery (1990)
Near Dark (1987)
Ravenous (1999)
Dead of Winter (1987)

I absolutely love movies like this!

The Straight Story

deliverance Quote

So, you've got these four buddies canoeing down the Cahulawee river, just trying to soak up some local vibes and witness some intense interpersonal drama unfolding along the way.

Great topic. August, Osage County.

David Lynch - Blue Velvet

Wim Wenders - Paris, Texas

Son in Law

I’d probably label No Country for Old Men as provincial. At least among his more recent stuff.

If I had to pick a standout, though, I’d say his role in Days of Heaven was perhaps his finest work.

boldnomad45 said:killer topic! August, Osage County

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No Country for Old Men—I mean, obviously. Not even gonna bother posting pics for that one.

Tremors—if you haven't seen it yet, seriously, go watch it. It's a must.



Joy Ride—kind of a horror vibe, similar to The Hitcher.



Vacancy—another horror flick. Setting is basically just some motel off a random American highway.



Fargo—both the movie and the series. If you haven't checked out the show, the first season is definitely worth it, and the third season currently airing is good too... though I wasn't really feeling the second season much.



The Texas Chain Saw Massacre 1 and 2—these are set deep in the middle of nowhere, rural America. Honestly, the second Chainsaw is way more fun than the first part, which you could probably skip if you wanted. To me, the first one feels a little slow nowadays, but it’s definitely set in the American heartland and has a few cult moments, like that scene at the end where the guy is dancing with the chainsaw on the road.



The Hills Have Eyes—back to that whole rural American setting again.



Wrong Turn—might actually be the best horror movie set in the woods. It's got that specific American backwoods atmosphere, so figured I'd mention it.



Rock West—some neo-noir stuff, kind of like Blood Simple or No Country for Old Men, if I remember right.



Looper—sci-fi, but like 90% of it takes place on this "futuristic" farm somewhere in the Midwest.



There's a ton of other movies like this, these are just the ones I can think of off the top of my head. Oh, and I should mention Ice Harvest. Might not be exactly the genre people are looking for here, but it definitely has that "Fargo" feel to it.

Part two:

North by Northwest—it’s pretty obvious like half of that movie was shot right in the heart of the US:



Companeros—that one feels more like Mexico, but it still has some cool Western atmosphere going on:



Vampires from '98—honestly, maybe the last Carpenter film I actually liked. It stars James Woods too, so if you haven't seen it and you're a fan of Carpenter or Woods... it seems to be set in New Mexico, lots of desert scenes, rundown little towns, highway stuff, all that.



The Birds—yeah, that definitely fits the whole American small-town vibe, just this time it's a town out on the West Coast.



Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas—another one that spends a good chunk of time stuck in the wasteland surrounding Las Vegas.



The Devil's Rejects—I almost forgot about this one, but yeah, the whole movie is basically just set in gritty, rural American locations.



The Walking Dead—the entire series is basically just one long, exhausting stretch of rural America. One scene after another: highways, farms, a prison tucked away in the woods, back to the highway, then a village deep in the forest... it never stops.



The Good, the Bad and the Ugly—I know it wasn't filmed in the States, mostly shot in Spain, but man, that movie is the literal definition of Western atmosphere. Setting-wise, it totally falls into that American heartland category. Unforgiven is worth a mention too. And there's like a million other Westerns set in rural parts of America. For something newer, you could look at the Westworld series.

X-Files: I Want to Believe - the vibe of this second X-Files movie kind of reminds me of Fargo... you know, that frozen backwater setting right on the border with Canada if I remember correctly.



The Deer Hunter - some parts take place in a city and then in Vietnam, but there are definitely those scenes that just feel like pure American heartland:



First Blood - this one is pretty much entirely set in some tiny little town and the woods surrounding it.



Sudden Impact - Dirty Harry 4, set in a small fishing town over on the West Coast.



Salem's Lot - up until now we've mostly talked about the US South, the frozen North, the Midwest plains, or maybe the West Coast. But Salem's Lot is actually set in a provincial little town out on the East Coast, in New England:



Insomnia - the whole story goes down in some village in Alaska and the nearby forest:



Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid - covers both North American provinces and South American provinces.



Sleepy Hollow - from Burton, basically just rural America like it was still back in the 1800s.



Black Cadillac - decent horror flick, kinda like Joy Ride or The Hitcher, set on some rural road up in the northern US.