Cannes Review: Heads or Tails is a Dreamlike, Authentic Western

      I could mention a few contemporary filmmakers more suited for the Western genre than Alessio Rigo de Righi and Matteo Zoppis. The duo behind The Tale of King Crab––a film I hold in high esteem––have forged their own space in modern Italian magical realism, somewhat alongside Alice Rohrwacher and Pietro Marcello while distinctly maintaining their unique style. Their latest effort, titled Heads or Tails, is yet another ethereal campfire tale from these filmmakers. Although it may not fully showcase their potential in the Western genre, it will certainly suffice until something more reaches us.

      Heads or Tails follows Rosa (Nadia Tereszkiewicz), the brave wife of a wealthy and overbearing landowner. The story opens at a rodeo, where a Vegas-era Buffalo Bill (John C. Reilly––yes, that one) has come to perform his show. While entertaining the local dignitaries, he suggests a competition between his American riders and the local Italians, instructing them to “lasso, subdue, and saddle.” Santino (Alessandro Borghi), a dashing Italian, enters and wins, but ends up incarcerated, prompting a smitten Rosa to free him, resulting in the death of her husband. Soon, a bounty is placed on their heads, and they find themselves fleeing with Bill and his companion in pursuit.

      With King Crab, de Righi and Zoppis created a world that felt both elaborate and authentically lived-in, a technique they effectively replicate here, achieving the rare (and increasingly desired) outcome of making it seem like you’re watching something significantly older. In the improbable event that someone stumbles upon Heads or Tails while channel-surfing, they could easily mistake it for the real thing. The rodeo scene at the outset and a later gunfight feel distinctly reminiscent of mid-20th-century cinema (and serve as a testament to the filmmakers being granted a bit more funding) without conveying a sense of homage or historical recreation. I particularly enjoyed the smoky nighttime scenes in the train yard and a wondrous moment one morning when our hero awakens to find a group of older villagers on a frog hunting expedition.

      It's another beautiful showcase of craftsmanship, a film to settle into, even if it never entirely reaches the dramatic stakes and pacing of Crab. The narrative includes firearms and romance, a corpse, an irate Marquis, and a group of Argentinian revolutionaries; yet Reilly’s Bill (initially a slightly jarring presence but ultimately endearing) acts as a mostly benevolent antagonist, leaving the chase lacking in peril, with no sense of imminent danger, and without offering a shining El Dorado, in either a literal or figurative sense, for our heroes to seek. When a more menacing adversary finally appears, it feels a bit late in the story. I must confess there were moments when my attention began to drift.

      The plot (credited to both the filmmakers and Carlo Salsa) unfolds through Bill’s dime-store narrative, a framing device that segments Heads or Tails into chapters while addressing a broader theme of ownership of one’s narrative, though it remains mostly peripheral. Enjoy the train yard, the shootout, and the still-chatty (albeit decapitated) head; but most importantly, relish how cinematographer Simone D’Arcangelo (King Crab, The Settlers) captures the sunlight glimmering in Rosa’s curly hair. Now, that’s cinema.

      Heads or Tails premiered at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival.