A Prayer for the Dying, the debut feature by New York-born Norwegian director Dara Van Dusen, is a Western set in the small frontier town of Friendship. While Jacob, the town’s sheriff and pastor, continues to suffer from the trauma of the Civil War, an epidemic begins to spread through the community. Dusen employs fantastical imagery and narrative devices to convey thematic symbolism and metaphor. For instance, Jacob’s dual roles as both the community’s protector and a man of the cloth hint at the agonizing choices he will later face, while the cause of the epidemic—foretold in his dreams—can be read as a metaphor for the devastation of war. Remarkably bold, delicate, and ambitious, it is a striking debut feature. (Molly KIM)