On the Texas border, in 1887, Texas RangerDavid Kingston is sent by Governor “Sul” Ross to the isolated town of Mount Hermon. Kingston is to investigate a series of murders and disappearances of Mexican citizens, in particular to search for Maria Calderon, the missing niece of a Mexican general who is threatening to invade to find her. In the town, preacher and mayor Abraham Brant - the man who killed Kingston's father in a ”Helena Duel”knife fight in 1866 - is keeping all the townsfolk in some kind of fearful grip. When Kingston arrives in town, the townsfolk act cold and hostile towards him, with the exception of Brant, who is smitten by Kingston's wife, Marisol. Kingston hides his identity and purpose from Brant, appearing as a wandering traveler. Brant offers him the role of town sheriff, which the newcomer hesitantly accepts, hoping the position will cover him long enough to carry out his real investigation. While Kingston explores the town and investigates the nearby Rio Grande for bodies, Brant manipulates a weak-spirited Marisol into becoming dependent on him. Marisol becomes Brant's willing consort, and betrays her husband's secrets. Kingston eventually learns Brant's secret - that he is abducting Mexicans to serve as prey for rich foreigners to hunt. When Kingston confronts Brant and the townspeople, Brant's son Isaac challenges Kingston to a ”Helena Duel” knife fight. During the fight, Kingston is badly wounded before he kills Isaac. Kingston escapes, and frees a number of captured Mexicans from the remote prison compound, including Maria Calderon. Suffering from his knife wounds, Kingston hits Brant in a shootout while near the isolated compound, then pins Brant's leg under a boulder. When Kingston passes out, Brant cuts his own leg off and crawls to the wounded man. As he is about to cut Kingston's throat, Maria reappears and shoots Brant dead. David dumps Abraham's body in the Rio Grande near the dead scalped Mexican woman. The Mexican general is grateful to David for getting Maria back. When men went back to the town and the prison, they found the town abandoned and no sign of the prison at all. David is last seen riding off into the brush alone, staring up at the tree where Naomi was hanged from earlier.
Cast
Production
On September 28, 2012, Kieran Darcy-Smith was set to direct the Helena, Texas set western film based on Matt Cook's 2009 Black Listed script, which David Hoberman and Todd Lieberman were announced to produce for their Mandeville Films. During 2014, a number of actors were attached to the film. On July 1, it was announced that Liam Hemsworth and Woody Harrelson would be starring in the lead roles of David Kingston and Abraham Brant, with the film then titled By Way of Helena. On August 29, Felicity Price was added to the cast. On September 5, William Hurt and Alice Braga joined the cast, and WestEnd Films was attached as handling international sales. Adam Rosenfelt and Maureen Meulen would finance the film and co-produce through their Atomic Entertainment. On October 2, Emory Cohen was added to the film to play Isaac. On October 9, Benedict Samuel joined the film to play Brit who visits the town with his father and brother to participate in the preacher's notorious manhunts. Nicholas Hoult, Joel Edgerton and Jamie Bell were once attached to star in the film in 2013.
On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, The Duel has an approval rating of 26%, based on 19 reviews, with a weighted average score of 5.17/10. On Metacritic, the film has a score of 42 out of 100, based on 9 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".
