Old Henry is refreshingly focused on story and character rather than ticking identity boxes. Characters fit naturally into the period and are driven by their circumstances, not modern ideological mandates. There’s no forced representation or transparent identity politics distorting the narrative flow. It’s almost shocking how much it sticks to old-fashioned storytelling, like filmmakers forgot to read the Hollywood playbook of 2021.

This film treats traditional themes of masculinity, family, and redemption with genuine seriousness. Rather than undermining these pillars, it puts them front and center. The way fatherhood and duty are rendered here feels almost rebellious in a media landscape so eager to flip the table on those values. No cheap shots at tradition, religion, or classic gender roles, finally!

Old Henry offers a variety of character motivations and personal codes, without flattening all nuance in favor of the current ideological consensus. While it doesn’t overtly highlight pluralism, it avoids the usual villainization of traditional or dissenting perspectives that is so common these days. Anti-hero complexity, not woke caricature, rules the day here.