Impressively filthy, studded with convincing violence, the picture is very much in an established sub-genre.

Dark onscreen and pitch-black at its soul, Kavanagh's long-gestating Irish-Luxembourg co-production is a stripped-down story of the eternal battle between good and evil set within the confines of a classic oater.

It's too monstrous and mean-spirited to please everyone unconditionally, but I found it challenging and honest-and hair-raising enough to work as a modern morality tale in cowboy boots.

Never Grow Old is a handsome, well-mounted Western in the old-tradition; it’s the kind of film that might have genre fans wondering if this is any good; it is good, the kind of tough, thoughtful film that’s increasingly hard to find but easy to recommend.