An excellent Western thriller movie is airing on TV tonight

It's a typically hard film to stream, so seize the opportunity to see it.

Written by Ted Griffin (Ocean's Eleven) and directed by Antonia Bird (Face), the 1999 movie is set in the 19th century. It sees Pearce play Captain John Boyd, a traumatised US soldier sent into exile at Fort Spencer, a remote military outpost high in the Sierra Nevada mountains.

"After arriving at his new post, Boyd and his regiment aid a wounded frontiersman, F.W. Colghoun (Carlyle), who recounts a horrifying tale of a wagon train murdered by its supposed guide - a vicious U.S. Army colonel gone rogue," the plot synopsis reads.

"The regiment heads out into the wilderness to verify Colghoun's gruesome claims."

Co-starring David Arquette, Jeremy Davies and Neal McDonough as the other soldiers at Boyd's post, we won't reveal any more about Ravenous' plot, except to say that it was loosely inspired by the real-life Donner Party.

While a critical and commercial flop upon release, the 1999 film is now seen as an absolute cult classic.

This is thanks to its genre-bending story, its darkly comic script, its gorgeous cinematography, its great performances, and its score composed by Blur's Damon Albarn.

Ravenous is airing on TV tonight/tomorrow morning on Film4 at 1.30am, so we'd advise recording the movie to watch later.

It's also available to rent on Apple TV, Google Play, Prime Video and the Sky Store.

For JOE's list of the other films on TV tonight, click here.