Starring: Anna Torv, Michael Dorman, Robert Taylor, Clarence Ryan, Sara Wiseman, Sam Corlett, Philippa Northeast

Director: Greg McLean
Released: 2024

Mood: If you’re sick of all the horrible things the billionaires are doing in the world right now and want to escape into a gripping Western about billionaires who also do horrible things but at least it’s fake.

I am DELIGHTED that we’re getting so much good Western TV right now. American Primeval is everything you could want in a dark and violent period Western, while Territory is a deliciously dramatic modern Western set in Australia.

If you enjoy the ‘cowboy mafia’ danger, sexy interpersonal tension, and impressive production quality of Yellowstone, Territory will be right up your alley. I kid you not, I was clutching the collar of my shirt with both hands through most of the last episode – and we’ll be left hanging on that cliff forever, because Netflix canceled this show.

Territory is about the wealthy Lawson family, who has owned the world’s largest cattle ranch, Marianne Station, for five generations. Surly patriarch Colin (Robert Taylor) thinks there’s no better cattleman than his youngest son, Daniel, and treats everyone else in his family like crap.

Colin is especially awful to his eldest son, Graham (Michael Dorman), and Graham’s wife Emily (Anna Torv). Graham became an alcoholic after he was passed over as heir to the ranch. Emily comes from a long line of livestock thieves, a line of work that her brother Hank (Dan Wyllie) still enjoys.

This is all established in the first ten minutes. Then everything goes sideways when Daniel dies in what may or may not be an accident. A LOT of people, some of them incredibly powerful and dangerous, quickly make plays to capitalize on the Lawsons’ situation.

Every moment of the six episodes is packed with scheming, secret deals, betrayals, doomed romance, violence, and murder, against the jaw-dropping scenery of Australia’s Northern Territory. It’s utterly irresistible if you like that sort of thing – and I really, really do.

Anna Torv and Clarence Ryan are absolute standouts, although there are no real weak links in the cast.

Torv gives Emily this quiet, unhurried manner that’s perfect for a character who’s a lifelong cowgirl. She rarely shows emotion, she doesn’t make big or sudden moves, and she’s always calculating and thinking three steps ahead. At first Emily comes across as meek, but you soon realize that she’s strong, highly capable, and completely in control.

Clarence Ryan plays Nolan Brannock, an Aboriginal cattleman trying to prove himself in an extremely white – and extremely racist – industry. He’s a hard worker and his skills are sought by other ranchers, but his own people look down on him for working among the rich white folks living on stolen land. Ryan’s makes Nolan equal parts rugged, capable, and conflicted.

Other note-worthy performances:

• Michael Dorman demonstrates a wealth of skill in the many layers of Graham’s transformation across six episodes
• Sara Wiseman is really enjoyable as an unapologetically diabolical billionaire; you don’t see this kind of female role too often, and especially not in Westerns
• Dan Wyllie is the welcome (and only) comic relief in Territory, with his thieving antics and warm, jovial attitude
• Sam Corlett does a good job as the smoldering-yet-sweet rich boy trying to be bad, and gives the part added depth with his emotional range
• Sam Delich is perfectly shifty as Rich and oozes untrustworthiness – hints of Robert Carlyle’s tightly-wound mania as Francis Begbie in Trainspotting
• Hamilton Morris, who won an AACTA for his turn in Sweet Country, is the voice of wisdom as Uncle Bryce – and shows zero fear entering a gunfight to defend a sacred place

The cinematography in Territory looks like it cost a fortune to produce. The wide, sweeping views of the landscape, especially while cattle are being rounded up, are breathtaking. The lighting is always on-point, and everything just feels authentic – even though the plot is quite soapy.

Don’t get me wrong, I love it. But like Yellowstone, 1883, Hell on Wheels, and Deadwood, the reason Territory is so instantly addictive is its slight implausibility – the way its characters are constantly in these crazy situations. We’re seeing realistic people and places, yet the events are theatrical and wholly unrelatable to the majority of us, and that makes it SO much more fun to watch than the reality we live in.

Beyond its heightened drama, Territory’s story does make a few slightly unreasonable demands of the viewer. Like how everyone instantly forgives Colin for decades of abuse because he begrudgingly starts being nicer. Or how Marshall supposedly has this deep connection to Sharnie, who does nothing but be reckless and fickle.

Overall, this is another great entry into the Western genre. I can’t wait to see what comes next.