Old Henry Ending EXPLAINED
Category
🎥
Short filmTranscript
00:00 So as it stands, Old Henry might just be one of the best westerns of the year, and for
00:04 many a big part of the reason why is its twist ending, although for anybody that isn't
00:09 well versed in their American history, a lot of it can go over the viewers head.
00:13 So today I thought we'd take a quick look at some of the bigger plot points and themes
00:16 throughout Old Henry to help people get a better understanding of the story and why
00:21 it's such a great film.
00:27 So for anybody that hasn't seen it, Old Henry is a 2021 western drama directed by
00:31 Potsie Ponsirely and stars the always impeccable Tim Blake Nelson, who plays farmer Henry McCarthy,
00:38 living peacefully with his son Wyatt on a secluded farm in the Oklahoma territory.
00:43 However things soon turn sour when Sheriff Sam Ketchum shows up on the farm with a posse
00:47 searching for an injured fugitive named Curry, who Henry decides to protect, ultimately leading
00:53 to the very violence that Henry has tried to shield his son from his entire life.
00:57 So if you're a fan of Unforgiven, John Wick or A History of Violence, then you're definitely
01:01 gonna want to check this one out, and maybe even save this video to watch later if you've
01:05 not seen the film yet as the rest of this video will contain spoilers.
01:09 So Old Henry starts with a quote from Henry himself, where he explains "It can be hard
01:13 to tell who and what a man is if he's got a mind to convince you otherwise", and this
01:18 is very much the mission statement for the whole film as pretty much nobody in this movie
01:22 is really who they say they are.
01:24 As such, for anybody watching that knows Billy the Kid's real birth name, Henry McCarthy's
01:29 true identity is obvious from the outset.
01:31 However for everybody else we are led to believe that Henry is just a simple man who's tried
01:36 many vocations before settling down as a farmer.
01:39 However Henry also mentions that he was born in New York, before spending time in Kansas,
01:44 Arizona and later Mexico, which matches up perfectly with the real life travels of Billy
01:49 the Kid.
01:50 So with that being said, Sheriff Pat Garrett famously killed Billy the Kid, so at this
01:55 stage it wouldn't make much sense for it to be Henry, who's very much alive, living
01:59 a peaceful life as an unassuming farmer with a dead wife and a teenage son.
02:04 However things don't stay peaceful for long, as one day while working on his farm, Henry
02:08 spots an unattended horse on the horizon and decides to investigate, ultimately finding
02:13 its rider, a shop man by the name of Curry, who's in possession of a satchel full of
02:17 cash, therefore being the passive farmer that he appears to be, Henry decides to help the
02:22 injured man and thinks better of touching the cash, or at least at first, before being
02:27 compelled to claim it along with the gun beside it, as if doing so is in its very nature.
02:33 Following this Henry leads Curry back to the farm and skillfully tends to his bullet wounds,
02:38 despite Wyatt believing Curry to be an outlaw, whilst pointing out that Henry also has similar
02:42 scars to that of a fugitive.
02:45 Henry brushes off the insinuation though, and locks away his newly acquired gun and
02:49 the satchel full of money in a hidden chest full of items from his past, but with his
02:54 son being as curious as he is, the first chance Wyatt gets he starts snooping around inside
02:59 the chest, uncovering lots of firepower and newspaper clippings, alluding to the infamous
03:04 gunslinger John Wesley and Sheriff Pat Garrett, the killer of Billy the Kid, further alluding
03:10 to the fact that Henry might very well have a criminal past.
03:14 However before Wyatt can ask his father about it, a trio of bank robbers disguised as lawmen
03:19 arrive on the farm searching for Curry, who they claim is a dangerous killer wanted in
03:23 Missouri and Tennessee.
03:25 Despite this Henry knows better and plays dumb before sending the men on their way,
03:30 forcing Ketchum and his gang to hatch an attack plan, while noting that Henry seems oddly
03:34 proficient with a gun for a peaceful farmer.
03:37 Thinking along the same lines, Curry asks Henry if they've ever met before, seemingly
03:41 recognising Henry before regaling him with a story about his time at Fort Sumner in New
03:46 Mexico, where he was born, which is also where Billy the Kid was famously shot and killed.
03:52 Curry even goes on to reveal that he was actually there the night of the shooting.
03:56 Curry was only a kid at the time, doing chores for Peter Maxwell, a friend of Billy's,
04:00 who tipped off Sheriff Garrett and his deputies to his presence.
04:03 The real life account of this incident suggests that Sheriff Garrett was simply responding
04:07 to rumours that Billy the Kid was in the vicinity of Fort Sumner, and so decided to question
04:12 local resident Peter Maxwell, leading to a long conversation in Maxwell's darkened
04:17 bedroom, into which Billy unexpectedly entered.
04:20 At this point accounts vary on what exactly happened next, but apparently Billy failed
04:25 to recognise Garrett due to the poor lighting, and drew his revolver, while shouting in Spanish
04:30 who is it, at which point Garrett recognised the voice of the famous outlaw and quickly
04:35 shot twice, hitting Billy above the heart with the first shot and missing him altogether
04:39 with the second.
04:41 To this day it's unclear whether Billy died right there and then, but a few hours after
04:45 the shooting a coroner's jury certified the events and the body, before performing
04:49 a wake by candlelight and burying the corpse the very next day.
04:53 This lines up pretty closely with Curry's memory of the event, except with the added
04:57 detail that Billy told a young Curry to keep his head low before he entered the building.
05:02 All of this suggests Curry is starting to suspect that farmer Henry McCarthy is in fact
05:07 Billy the Kid.
05:08 However it isn't until later when Ketchum attacks the ranch and kills Henry's brother
05:12 in law that Curry and the audience finally get confirmation, as Henry tells Curry to
05:17 keep his head down once more, and demonstrates his proficiency with a gun and the Spanish
05:22 language, prompting Curry to conclude that Billy must have escaped that fatal night in
05:27 which he was supposed to have been killed, before going into hiding as a farmer to evade
05:31 the law.
05:32 Following this revelation, Henry proceeds to dispatch all of the outlaws with ease,
05:36 before killing Ketchum in a costly one on one shootout.
05:40 However bloody and bruised, Henry returns to his home victorious, immediately getting
05:44 to work on tending to a bullet wound that Curry sustained during the gunfight, but in
05:49 doing so Henry notices that Curry has the same branding on his arm as the rest of the
05:53 outlaws outside.
05:55 Before Henry has a chance to put two and two together, Curry shoots him, revealing that
06:00 he is indeed a deputy, but one that has signed on with Ketchum's gang, at least until he
06:05 realised that they were planning on betraying him, a lot like the other lawmen that he had
06:09 joined with.
06:10 As such, Curry prepares to shoot Henry to protect his secret, but Wyatt steps in at the last
06:14 moment and shoots him dead.
06:16 This leads to a last goodbye between father and son, as Henry explains he didn't know
06:21 who or what he was until he became a dad, and encourages his son to take the satchel
06:25 full of money, and set out on his own like he always wanted, to go forge his own identity
06:30 in an ever modernising world.
06:32 Henry also mentions that he doesn't believe in redemption, but in reality Old Henry is
06:37 a redemption tale through and through, given that it resurrects one of the most infamous
06:42 outlaws of all time, in order to give him a chance at redeeming his legacy through the
06:46 act of fatherhood.
06:47 And all of this links in perfectly to the prevailing theme of the movie, which is identity,
06:52 or more specifically how allegiances, titles and legacies are not what defines a person,
06:58 but rather it's actions that define who and what we really are.
07:01 And after all the dust has settled and the dead are buried, that's essentially the
07:05 lesson that Wyatt and the audience are able to walk away with when the credits for Old
07:10 Henry start to roll.
07:11 However that was just my humble take on the movie and it's ending, so I'd love to
07:15 hear yours or any thoughts you have to share about the film or it's meaning, and for
07:18 anybody wondering if there's actually any truth to the idea that Billy the Kid could
07:22 have somehow survived his death, I'm going to link some other YouTubers here who cover
07:26 this topic in far far greater detail and accuracy than I ever could.
07:30 But if you enjoyed this video please do consider liking, subscribing and shooting the bell
07:34 for notifications for all the very latest from Just Westerns, the home of westerns here
07:39 on YouTube.
07:40 *Gunshot*
07:40 *Music*