One of the greatest Western movies of the past decade is on TV tonight

Stephen Porzio

Be warned though, this sadly underseen Western with an Irish twist is not for the faint-hearted.

Our movies on TV pick for tonight (Friday, 23 February) is The Nightingale, the 2018 Western thriller starring Irish actress Aisling Franciosi (God’s Creatures, The Fall).

She delivers an incredible performance as a young Irish convict named Clare in 19th century Australia. This is as she chases a British officer (Sam Claflin) through the rugged Tasmanian wilderness in order to seek revenge for the terrible acts he committed against her and her family.

On the way, she enlists the services of an Aboriginal tracker named Billy (Baykali Ganambarr), a man also marked by trauma from his own violence-filled past.

The much-anticipated follow-up for writer-director Jennifer Kent after her beloved horror debut The Babadook, The Nightingale caused quite a stir upon its release in 2018 due to its scenes of extreme violence.

The movie, however, is very much seeking to expose the horrors of colonialism and becomes an incredible emotional and powerful story about the friendship that develops between the oppressed Billy and Clare.

Holding an 86% Rotten Tomatoes score, The Nightingale deserves a bigger audience and can be watched, or perhaps recorded to watch later, at 1.15am on Friday night/Saturday morning on Film4.

Also available to rent on Apple TV, Curzon, Google Play, Rakuten TV and the Sky Store, check out its trailer right here:

For information on the other movies airing on TV tonight, scroll below:

Wild Rose/Beast – Film4 – 9pm/11.05pm

There’s also a double bill centred around Irish Oscar nominated actress Jessie Buckley on Film4 tonight.

Assault on Precinct 13 – Horror Xtra – 9pm

Halloween and The Thing director John Carpenter’s breakthrough movie, Assault on Precinct 13 remains one of the tensest, tightest thrillers of all time.

Independence Day: Resurgence – E4 – 9pm

The long-awaited, pretty disappointing sequel to the classic ’90s sci-fi blockbuster.

Ocean’s Thirteen – RTÉ2 – 9.30pm

As part of a revenge plot, master thief Danny Ocean (George Clooney) and his crew target a casino mogul (played by Al Pacino) in this fun trilogy capper.

3:10 to Yuma – TG4 – 9.30pm

Another acclaimed Western, this one stars Christian Bale and Russell Crowe.

American Gangster – MTV – 10pm

Denzel Washington is a gangster and Russell Crowe is the detective on his tail in director Ridley Scott’s very watchable crime drama based loosely on true events.

No Mercy – Legend – 11pm

Richard Gere is a cop out for vengeance in this ’80s neo-noir, which also stars Kim Basinger.

The Eiger Sanction – BBC Two – 11.05pm

We’ve previously described this as Clint Eastwood’s take on a Bond film.

Funny Cow – RTÉ One – 11.15pm

In this acclaimed comedy-drama, a comedian (Maxine Peake) uses her troubled past as material for her stand-up routine and tries to rise up through the comedy circuit by playing Northern England’s working men’s clubs.