A grim look at the American West

A Prayer for the Dying takes a grim look at a doom-struck western town that’s trying to expand in the years just after the Civil War. Director Dara Van Dusen, an American who lives in Norway and trained at the Polish National Film School in Lodz, has made one of the year’s darkest films, telling the story of a town residents struck by a lethal plague of diphtheria -- not that things were going all that well before that. Jacob (Johnny Flynn) does triple duty. He’s the bicycle-riding sheriff, undertaker, and pastor of the sparsely populated town. John C. Reilly, in another fine performance, plays the town’s doctor. Kristine Kujath Thorp portrays Jacob’s wife, a mom who breaks down emotionally when illness claims her child. The movie tests one’s endurance — at least it did mine. But if you stick with Prayer, you may find that it gets under your skin. The film’s naturalistic images and dusty earth tones become a mask that Van Dusen peels away as she builds toward images of hellish horror.…