The film stars Costner and Diane Lane as George and Margaret Blackledge, a retired sheriff and his wife, whose Montana ranch life fractures after the death of their son. When their daughter-in-law remarries and pulls their young grandson into a new life, the couple senses something is wrong and follows them into the Dakotas. What they find is a dangerous, insular family living off the grid, the kind that answers questions with intimidation and treats custody like territory. The film is directed by Thomas Bezucha and adapted from Larry Watson’s novel.
That is why it makes such a clean alternative for anyone craving more of Costner in this mode: you get his weathered authority and moral gravity, but in a self-contained story that makes its point in two hours and has Costner’s character stepping up to save his daughter-in-law and grandchild. Let Him Go has an 85% critics’ score and 76% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.
‘Let Him Go’ Was Trending on Freevee Back in January 2025
Let Him Go was released during the pandemic and had a limited theatrical release before becoming available on digital and later on streaming. Before Peacock picked it up for a January 1, 2026, arrival, the film had already proven it could travel on pure word of mouth a year earlier, in January 2025. The Kevin Costner and Diane Lane thriller climbed Freevee’s free streaming charts and was reportedly sitting at No. 5, which is exactly the kind of quiet momentum movies like this thrive on.
Instead of needing a franchise push, it found viewers the old-school way: someone hits play, likely for Costner, gets pulled into the slow simmer, then tells someone else it is way darker than they expected. The Rotten Tomatoes split, 85% from critics (198+ ratings) and 76% from audiences (1000+ reviews), backs up that hidden gem energy too, turning it into a cost-free discovery for anyone craving a tough neo-Western with real bite.
