I want so much more for Leticia Wright in her film career. It’s not that she chooses bad project, she just winds up in things like The Silent Twins or Surrounded that seem to fly under the radar. She’s Shuri. She’s the new Black Panther. Let this woman kick some ass in major films. Surrounded shows that the potential is there. In this western, now living on MGM Plus with audio description, Wright plays a former Buffalo Soldier traveling to a destination with a stagecoach, when they get robbed, and the event turns into your typical Wild West shootout. At the end, some are dead, and one of the survivors leaves her in charge of guarding the lone remaining gunslinger (Jamie Bell) until he returns with the law.
So, it’s a bit of a survival film as much as anything else. Two people who can’t trust each other are stuck together in the undeveloped Wild West. This sounds like the kind of film that gets ignored, but maybe this shouldn’t. First, Wright is solid in her quasi-action lead role. Bell is immersed in this western twang, enough to make you totally forget he’s from across the pond. And, this even features what has to be the last remaining filmed performance from Michael Kenneth Williams.
It won’t impress your friends that you saw this, and likely you don’t have MGM Plus. But if you do, check out Surrounded. Final Grade: B
