---
title: "The Ballad of Buster Scruggs"
year: 2018
kind: "film"
canonical: "https://film.one/film/the-ballad-of-buster-scruggs"
fi1m_id: "the-ballad-of-buster-scruggs"
imdb_id: "tt6412452"
tmdb_id: 537996
wikidata_id: "Q37342034"
fi1m_score: 79
critics_score: 75
critics_reviews: 28
published: "2026-09-24T03:13:00.314611+00:00"
updated: "2026-09-24T03:13:01.032163+00:00"
region: "HU"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (2018)

Directed by Joel Coen, Ethan Coen · 2h 12m · Western, Comedy, Drama

## Identity

The Ballad of Buster Scruggs

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/film/the-ballad-of-buster-scruggs
- **Type:** Film
- **Fi1m ID:** the-ballad-of-buster-scruggs
- **IMDb ID:** tt6412452
- **TMDB ID:** 537996
- **Wikidata ID:** Q37342034
- **Same entity:** https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6412452/, https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/537996, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q37342034

**Fi1m score: 79** · Critics 75 from 28 reviews

*In a sentence:* The singing cowboy is charming enough to make us briefly forget how badly he behaves

> Joel Coen and Ethan Coen make the Old West funny, cruel and unexpectedly sad. The stories vary in strength, but Tim Blake Nelson’s singing cowboy and the patient attention to detail make the unevenness worth accepting.

## Synopsis

In the Old West, singing cowboy Buster Scruggs (Tim Blake Nelson) encounters cantina drinkers, card players and men who are not pleased to see him. Curly Joe (Clancy Brown) and the Frenchman (David Krumholtz) are among the company. Buster has songs to sing and hostile company to contend with; his response brings music and violence into the same encounters. His tale opens a collection of six Western stories, presented as chapters in an illustrated book, which moves from musical comedy towards more sombre accounts of human behaviour, cruelty and death.

## Review

Joel Coen and Ethan Coen’s *The Ballad of Buster Scruggs* is a good Western anthology with an exceptional opening and some stretches that cannot sustain our interest. Its six stories appear as chapters in an illustrated book, giving each a fresh start without pretending they belong to one continuous adventure. The brothers use that freedom to move from broad comedy into cruelty and sadness. At 132 minutes, the collection asks for more patience than every chapter earns, though enough of it works to justify the evening.

Tim Blake Nelson makes Buster Scruggs such agreeable company that the opening’s musical violence is harder to resist than it should be. His performance treats singing and aggression as equally reasonable ways of passing the time, without pausing to acknowledge how outrageous this is. We laughed, then felt slightly ashamed of ourselves, because the musical timing makes the brutality so easy to enjoy. The performance sets a level of comic assurance the other stories cannot consistently match.

Bruno Delbonnel’s cinematography makes the Western scenery feel expansive even when a story is over almost before we have settled into it. Those broad views deserve the attention they receive. Jess Gonchor’s production design gives the drinking and card-playing spaces the carefully arranged look of illustrations, fitting the book that introduces the tales. The artificiality is a pleasure, although the polish sometimes keeps the harsher material at a comfortable distance.

As editors, Joel Coen and Ethan Coen are especially good at letting a change of tone arrive before we have prepared for it. A comic passage can become unpleasant without an announcement, and the chapter breaks let them begin again without forcing a connection between stories. Carter Burwell’s score gives the sadder passages enough weight to stand alongside the comedy. It helps us accept the changes without making every sombre moment feel like an instruction to stop enjoying ourselves.

The trouble is that we begin to anticipate the cruelty. Once the collection has taught us to distrust a pleasant situation, waiting for it to sour can become less interesting than the brothers seem to think. Some chapters feel stretched around a grim joke whose direction is already clear, and the handsome settings cannot entirely disguise the wait. Slowness itself is not the problem; the problem is having time to lose interest in what happens to the people.

For all that, the film understands how much a Western can contain. Songs, bad manners, suspicion and sentiment belong here without every tale having to handle them in the same way. The performances are most persuasive when they make the people worth caring about before the film asks us to fear for them. There is enough tenderness to complicate the humour, and enough humour to keep the persistent attention to mortality from becoming a lecture.

Do not mistake the singing cowboy for a promise of a cheerful evening. The changeable pace is part of the appeal, provided a less compelling chapter does not send us reaching for a distraction before the next one starts. Choose it when a laugh turning uncomfortable sounds like an acceptable way to spend the night.

*Fi1m score 79, published 24 September 2026.*

## What the critics say

Most critics respond warmly to the Coens’ six-part Western anthology, praising its shifts between broad comedy, cruelty and sadness. The performances draw consistent approval, particularly Tim Blake Nelson’s singing cowboy, while the photography, production design and Carter Burwell’s score earn praise even in less enthusiastic reviews. Many find that the storybook structure and recurring concern with death give the separate tales enough coherence, with the opening chapter frequently singled out for its comic invention.

The reservations centre on uneven pacing and whether the later stories sustain that opening promise. Opinion ranges widely: admirers find economical storytelling and feeling beneath the grim jokes, while others see minor sketches stretched beyond their worth. Slant Magazine offers the clearest dissent, finding the cruelty predictable and the ideas underdeveloped. Polygon is more positive but raises a separate concern about the retrograde portrayal of Native Americans, a reservation distinct from the broader debate about consistency.

## Straight answers

**Is The Ballad of Buster Scruggs worth watching?**

*The Ballad of Buster Scruggs* is worth watching for its dark Western humour, carefully composed settings and Tim Blake Nelson’s singing cowboy; we score it 79 out of 100. The six stories vary in strength, and some stretch their grim jokes too far, but we recommend it if laughter turning uncomfortable sounds appealing.

**How long is The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, and what is it rated?**

*The Ballad of Buster Scruggs* runs 2h 12m. It is a western and comedy film.

**Where can I watch The Ballad of Buster Scruggs in Hungary?**

*The Ballad of Buster Scruggs* is streaming on Netflix in Hungary. Availability is checked daily; the links above go straight to each service.

**How violent or frightening is The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, and is it suitable for children?**

*The Ballad of Buster Scruggs* carries a UK 15 certificate and is not suitable for children, despite its singing cowboy and illustrated-book presentation. Its violence mixes brutality with comic musical timing, while the stories repeatedly turn towards cruelty and death. We would steer squeamish viewers away: the humour makes the violence easier to enjoy, not necessarily easier to stomach.

**How does The Ballad of Buster Scruggs compare to Dead Man Walking?**

*The Ballad of Buster Scruggs* earns a more qualified recommendation from us than [*Dead Man Walking*](https://film.one/film/dead-man-walking): its Western anthology is uneven, while the capital-punishment drama earns its emotion through difficult encounters. Choose the Coens’ film for songs, dark comedy and abrupt shifts into cruelty; choose *Dead Man Walking* for Susan Sarandon and Sean Penn’s performances, accepting that its debate sometimes feels too carefully arranged.

**What should I watch after The Ballad of Buster Scruggs?**

After *The Ballad of Buster Scruggs*, try [*Dead Man*](https://film.one/film/dead-man-walking) (1995, Fi1m 84): Another peculiar journey west, with deadpan humour and death never far away. Then [*Wild Tales*](https://film.one/film/wild-tales) (2014, Fi1m 83): Another anthology where ordinary human failings lead to disproportionate trouble.

### Reviews we read (28)

- **The Telegraph** (5/5): The Coens are in inspired form with this macabre, gonzo Western that is half-fish, half-fowl and altogether inspired, with formal ingenuity and surgical control of tone. The critic singles out the dazzling mosey through the Coenesque, including the gonzo send-up of the singing cowboy genre and the formal presentation as chapters of a book. [Read](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/0/ballad-buster-scruggs-review-coens-inspired-form-macabre-gonzo/)
- **RogerEbert.com**, Glenn Kenny (3.5/4): The critic finds the anthology a marvelous and disquieting work full of exquisite detail and a bewitching sense of the Coens' multi-level playfulness. He singles out the vivid performances, Carter Burwell's score, and the way the stories circle around the inevitability of death. [Read](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-ballad-of-buster-scruggs-2018)
- **Sight and Sound**, Michael Leader (85/100, inferred): The critic sees the anthology as an eclectic tribute to the flexible storytelling modes of the Old West, with the Coens delighting in comic vignettes, grim irony, gallows humour and Gothic tales. It showcases the brothers in all their guises, from playful to profound, while celebrating American foundation myths. [Read](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/ballad-buster-scruggs-first-look-six-pack-western-rambles-way-coen-brothers)
- **The New Yorker**, Richard Brody (85/100, inferred): The critic describes it as an exemplary political film built from giddy Western revisionism that exposes cruelty and unchecked power through clever twists. He singles out the philosophical bent and the way the episodes expand the genre into the absolute, especially the final metaphysical coach journey. [Read](https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-front-row/review-the-coen-brothers-the-ballad-of-buster-scruggs-is-six-giddy-cruel-twists-on-the-western)
- **Empire**, Dan Jolin (82/100, inferred): The critic calls the Coens' anthology a six-part love letter to the Hollywood Western, visualized as a cloth-bound storybook with vivid illustrations, full of subversion, parody and offbeat humour across its segments. There isn't really a weak link, though 'Meal Ticket' may test patience; the film spans the mythic West's visual flavours with warmth and humanity amid the playfulness, reminding viewers the genre still has life in it. [Read](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/ballad-buster-scruggs-review/)
- **The Guardian** (82/100, inferred): The Coens deliver a hilarious, beautifully made, very enjoyable and rather disturbing anthology of old-west stories that switch from picturesque sentimentality to grisly violence. The critic singles out the polished performances, especially Tim Blake Nelson as the roistering Buster and the handsomely made picture with Carter Burwell’s score. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2018/aug/31/the-ballad-of-buster-scruggs-review-coen-brothers-western)
- **Film Comment**, Michael Koresky (80/100, inferred): The critic finds the anthology's six tales of flawed, often pathetic characters accumulate into a stronger, stranger, and sadder unified work that reflects moral deficiency and spiritual waywardness. They single out the strong ensemble performances and visual pleasures alongside the Coens' signature existential melancholy. [Read](https://www.filmcomment.com/article/the-paragon-of-animals/)
- **Little White Lies**, Adam Woodward (3/4/5): The critic calls it the crowning achievement of the Coens’ career and their personal ode to the Old West, praising the staggering artistic scope, narrative sweep, and vivid evocation of America’s dreams and contradictions. It is by turns darkly comic and deeply moving, with striking images and economy of storytelling. [Read](https://lwlies.com/reviews/the-ballad-of-buster-scruggs)
- **Radio Times**, Terry Staunton (4/5): The critic praises the elegant anthology for celebrating celluloid cowboys of varying stripe and flitting masterfully from jet-black drama to sentimentality and savagery while keeping a tight rein on surprising narratives. It is a heartfelt love poem to the Wild West with remarkable performances and a rich understanding of the genre. [Read](https://www.radiotimes.com/movies/the-ballad-of-buster-scruggs-netflix-movie-review/)
- **The New York Times**, A.O. Scott (80/100, inferred): The review calls the film one of the darkest yet silliest Coen movies, swerving deftly between goofy and ghastly while treating genre as a playroom. The critic praises its haunting quality and the way its morbid jokes function as existential riddles. [Read](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/08/movies/the-ballad-of-buster-scruggs-review.html)
- **The Times**, Tom Shone (★★★★): The Coens have patched together a crazy, colourful quilt of the American hinterland in this merry, morbid anthology of campfire tales about the American West. The critic singles out death as the linchpin of the strangely memorable portmanteau movie, with stories that layer pathos with cruelty and move from burlesque beginnings to mortal longings. [Read](https://www.thetimes.com/culture/article/ballad-of-buster-scruggs-review-the-coens-freaky-anthology-of-campfire-tales-dl7qgfb5n)
- **Time Out**, Phil de Semlyen (4/5): The review finds the six darkly comic mini-Westerns richly entertaining and blackly funny yet told with sincerity and heart, with the Coens firing barely a dud. It praises the mini-masterclasses in economy and style, glorious cinematography, and the case made for short-form storytelling. [Read](https://www.timeout.com/movies/the-ballad-of-buster-scruggs)
- **Screen Daily** (77/100, inferred): The delightfully protean Western anthology presents every variation of the Coen brothers, united by excitement about truncated narratives and playful discovery. It plays with Western tropes as springboards for clever twists and is at its best when entering existential terrain, though some chapters are stronger than others. [Read](https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/the-ballad-of-buster-scruggs-venice-review/5132032.article)
- **The AV Club**, A.A. Dowd (B): The critic calls it a grimly comic anthology that offers six Coen horse operas, varying in quality but held together by craftsmanship and a withering worldview. They single out the first segment’s savagely funny vaudeville musical violence as the broadest and most memorable. [Read](https://www.avclub.com/the-coens-head-west-and-to-netflix-in-the-grimly-comi-1830267619)
- **IndieWire**, Eric Kohn (65/100, inferred): The review describes the film as a messy collage of the Coens’ best motifs that has some wonderful moments even as it drags. The critic highlights the anthology format’s uneven pacing and occasional strong individual segments. [Read](https://www.indiewire.com/features/general/the-ballad-of-buster-scruggs-review-coen-brothers-netflix-venice-1201999196/)
- **Los Angeles Times**, Kenneth Turan (65/100, inferred): The review presents the film as an anthology of uneven segments that works like a small-plate feast, with some delicious and others less memorable. The critic singles out the first Buster Scruggs episode and the final stagecoach story for their strong performances and comic subversion of Western tropes. [Read](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-ballad-of-buster-scruggs-review-20181107-story.html)
- **Variety**, Owen Gleiberman (60/100, inferred): The review sees the anthology as a Coen trifle that justifies itself through majestic imagery and a scabrous obsession with death, though the episodes are uneven. The critic singles out the opening title segment as an original cowboy splatter musical and notes the final coach episode for its grim, funny metaphysical turn. [Read](https://variety.com/2018/film/reviews/the-ballad-of-buster-scruggs-review-the-coen-brothers-1202923160/)
- **The Hollywood Reporter**, Todd McCarthy (56/100, inferred): The critic finds the Coen brothers' Western anthology uneven and minor, playing like a vaudeville show of sketches with drastically differing quality. They single out the technical craft, particularly Bruno Delbonnel’s rapturous cinematography and the detailed production design. [Read](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/ballad-buster-scruggs-review-1139035/)
- **Slant Magazine**, Greg Cwik (40/100, inferred): The critic finds the anthology silly and mood-shifting yet inchoate and perfunctory, with the Coens at their most misanthropic. They single out the lack of deeper insinuation and the predictability that saps profundity, though noting some uproarious moments in the opening segment. [Read](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/the-ballad-of-buster-scruggs/)
- **Collider**, Matt Goldberg (B+): The film serves as a solid introduction to the Coens' recurring themes and moral philosophy through its anthology structure, even if it is unlikely to be anyone's favorite of their works or the first one they recommend. The critic singles out the anthology format for making the grim and unforgiving worldview clear across varied segments that remain gripping without overstaying their welcome. [Read](https://collider.com/the-ballad-of-buster-scruggs-review/)
- **/Film**, Marshall Shaffer (8/10): The critic views the film as a greatest-hits-style showcase of the Coens' tonal mastery across six stories, praising the expert wielding of mood, ironic twists, strong performances (notably Tim Blake Nelson and Zoe Kazan), and overall pleasure in watching the brothers at work. [Read](https://www.slashfilm.com/561490/the-ballad-of-buster-scruggs-review-nyff/)
- **The Ringer**, Adam Nayman (80/100, inferred): The Western anthology collapses the gap between the Coens' funny and serious films by confronting mortality across its stories in a way that puts the sting back into death. The critic singles out the conceptual strength of the page-turning structure for numbing, distancing, and then resensitizing viewers to dread and loss, along with standout segments like the opening and "Meal Ticket." [Read](https://www.theringer.com/2018/11/15/movies/the-ballad-of-buster-scruggs-netflix-coen-brothers-review)
- **Polygon**, Siddhant Adlakha (75/100, inferred): The anthology grapples with the Western genre's history and the Coens' own career while delivering moments of entertainment amid dread, making it one of their funniest yet hauntingly pessimistic films in years. The critic singles out the reflexive commentary on cinema, violence, and existence for praise but notes issues with the retrograde framing of Native Americans. [Read](https://www.polygon.com/2018/10/24/18018476/ballad-of-buster-scruggs-coen-brothers-western-netflix/)
- **Consequence** (70/100, inferred): The six-part anthology has its highs and lows but is hardly ever boring and remains a suitably Coenesque jaunt through the Old West. The critic singles out the strong opening segments featuring Tim Blake Nelson and Tom Waits for praise while noting diminishing returns in the later ones, yet highlights the impeccable cast, photography, and scoring as making it worth watching. [Read](https://consequence.net/2018/11/film-review-the-ballad-of-buster-scruggs/)
- **The Playlist**, Jessica Kiang (B-): The review calls the anthology wildly uneven with standout funny and offbeat segments alongside weaker ones, praising individual performances and moments (especially the first and fourth stories) but criticizing the lack of connective tissue and overall minor status in the Coens' canon. [Read](https://theplaylist.net/ballad-buster-scruggs-venice-review-20180831/)
- **The Wrap** (70/100, inferred): The critic finds the Coen brothers' Western anthology an entertaining but uneven Netflix binge that peaks early with its opening segment. They single out the self-reflexive, absurdist, witty and outrageous quality of the Tim Blake Nelson opener for praise while noting the rest struggles to match its energy. [Read](https://www.thewrap.com/ballad-of-buster-scruggs-film-review-coen-brothers-netflix/)
- **Den of Geek**, David Crow (3/5): The critic notes the anthology features real gems alongside some fool's gold, with the strongest segments being the title story and 'The Gal Who Got Rattled,' but it never quite overcomes the strength of the opener. They single out the gorgeous cinematography, westward wit, and fantastic acting as consistent strengths. [Read](https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/the-ballad-of-buster-scruggs-review-coen-brothers/)
- **Eye for Film**, Owen Van Spall (3/5): The critic finds the anthology a mixed bag of Coen-esque quirk and morbid humor that doesn't fully cohere, praising the visually resplendent production design, droll wordplay, and strong opening segment while noting uneven tales and a lack of fresh perspective on the Western landscape. [Read](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/the-ballad-of-buster-scruggs-2018-film-review-by-owen-van-spall)

## Details

- **Director:** Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
- **Director:** Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
- **Writer:** Ethan Coen, Joel Coen
- **Cinematography:** Bruno Delbonnel
- **Editor:** Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
- **Music:** Carter Burwell
- **Production design:** Jess Gonchor
- **Costume design:** Mary Zophres
- **Producer:** Joel Coen, Ethan Coen, Megan Ellison
- **Cast:** Tim Blake Nelson as Buster Scruggs (segment "The Ballad of Buster Scruggs"); Willie Watson as The Kid (segment "The Ballad of Buster Scruggs"); Clancy Brown as Curly Joe (segment "The Ballad of Buster Scruggs"); Danny McCarthy as Curly Joe's Brother (segment "The Ballad of Buster Scruggs"); David Krumholtz as Frenchman (segment "The Ballad of Buster Scruggs"); Thomas Wingate as Gun Check Man (segment "The Ballad of Buster Scruggs"); Tim de Zarn as Mean-Eyed Card Player (segment "The Ballad of Buster Scruggs"); E. E. Bell as Piano Player (segment "The Ballad of Buster Scruggs")
- **Runtime:** 2h 12m
- **First release (Italy):** 30 August 2018
- **Genres:** Western, Comedy, Drama
- **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2PyxzSH1HM

## Where to watch in Hungary

- Netflix: streaming

*Checked 2026-09-24.*

Also available in: AE, AR, AT, AU, AZ, BE, BG, BR, CA, CH, CL, CO, CZ, DE, DK, EC, EE, ES, FI, FR, GB, GR, HK, HR, HU, ID, IE, IL, IN, IS, IT, JP, KR, LT, MX, MY, NL, NO, NZ, PA, PE, PH, PL, PT, RO, RS, SE, SG, SI, SK, TH, TR, UA, US, VN, ZA. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country.

## Awards

- Academy Awards 2019: Best Costume Design (nominated)

## If you liked this

- *The Sisters Brothers* (2018): More squabbling Western professionals, with a little extra warmth beneath the gunplay.
- *Dead Man* (1995), Fi1m 84: Another peculiar journey west, with deadpan humour and death never far away. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/dead-man-walking.md)
- *Wild Tales* (2014), Fi1m 83: Another anthology where ordinary human failings lead to disproportionate trouble. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/wild-tales.md)
- *The Great Silence* (1968): A harsher Western for those drawn to the cruelty beneath the scenery.
- *Kwaidan* (1964): For carefully built storybook worlds with a more patient, unsettling rhythm.

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© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/film/the-ballad-of-buster-scruggs