In 1899, an aging gunslinger named Jack Beauregard dreams of retiring peacefully and sailing to Europe, leaving behind a world that still feels hungry for powder and peril. His reputation precedes him as he casually demonstrates his speed by blasting three gunmen in a barbershop, a moment that makes the barber’s son ask if anyone in the world could possibly be faster. The barber’s answer lands like a verdict: faster than him? Nobody!
Beauregard’s journey toward a quiet retirement unfolds with small, almost ritual observations. He pauses to watch a young man try to catch fish by swinging a tree branch, a moment that reminds him of the odd, almost playful turns of fate. He then reaches an old goldmine where a trusted friend, Red, lies dying after a brutal gang attack. Red’s last breath carries a clue about Nevada, a village that might hold the key to Beauregard’s next move, but it’s vague enough to provoke a long road of questions. Red’s final message leaves Beauregard with a lingering sense that his past will not fade away without a final, defining confrontation.
At a remote horse relay station, a charismatic young courier approaches Beauregard with a carefully wrapped basket and a warning: he knows far too much about Beauregard’s feats. The basket contains danger—a hidden bomb—but the courier’s true role is nowhere near as simple as delivery. The young man introduces himself as “Nobody” [Nick Cheung Ka-Fai], a boyish admirer who longs to see Beauregard finish his career in a blaze of glory by taking on the formidable Wild Bunch all at once. The Wild Bunch are leveraging a worthless goldmine to launder stolen gold, a scheme that draws Beauregard’s attention even as it tests his resolve. Sullivan, the mine’s owner acting as a front, believes Beauregard is scheming to take his life, and so he sets a trap to keep the gunslinger at bay.
When Beauregard arrives at Nevada’s village, Nobody is already there, and the grim truth lands with a heavier weight: the Nevada Kid, Beauregard’s brother, is dead. Nobody makes another push to pull Beauregard into the world he’s tried to leave behind, insisting that their shared history demands one last, decisive act against the Wild Bunch. In a town where Sullivan has teeth to bite, he hires Nobody to kill Beauregard, but Nobody’s loyalties shift in a flash: he helps Beauregard dismantle Sullivan’s men, a tiny, startling act of mercy in a game built on treachery. The Wild Bunch roll into town, loading dynamite into their saddlebags and moving toward the kind of reckoning Beauregard has always avoided—until now.
An old man adds a bitter chapter to the tale: he was bought out of a goldmine by Nevada and Red only to see the same mine churn out gold in time, a cruel twist of fortune that haunts the living as much as the dead. Beauregard races to the mine and finds Sullivan packing sacks of gold powder, a scene that forces him to choose between revenge and a route to Europe. Sullivan offers Nevada’s share as a tempting lure, but Beauregard refuses to let family ties bind him to a life he wants to escape, taking only two sacks and a modest $500 to fund his passage to Europe. With the plan set, he heads for a train that will carry him away from this life.
The Wild Bunch, masked in their calm swagger, steal a train loaded with gold, guarded by soldiers. Beauregard waits on the tracks while the gang charges across a barren plain, and Nobody arrives with the train but stubbornly refuses to rescue him until Beauregard earns his place in history. The memory of the mirrored conchas on the gang’s dynamite-filled saddlebags becomes Beauregard’s cue: he fires, shattering most of the gang and carving a path onto the carriages, while Nobody finally allows him a chance to board.
In New Orleans, the duel that everyone has anticipated unfolds in the street, watched by a theater of spectators and a curious photographer. Nobody proves to be faster, and Beauregard falls to the ground as if he’s been struck down. The remaining members of the Wild Bunch turn their gaze toward the anonymous Nobody, convinced that their old adversary has truly vanished. Yet the final tableau reveals a quiet irony: Nobody passes by the ship that was meant to take Beauregard to Europe, only to discover that Beauregard is alive and hidden in a cabin aboard, writing a tender, affectionate farewell to a rival who became his last, unforgettable opponent.
Throughout the journey, the film crafts a slow-burn epic about aging, legend, and the cost of choosing a solitary path over a legacy that won’t stay buried. The landscapes—desolate plains, a vanishing goldmine, a tomb-like train station, and the humid streets of New Orleans—serve as the stages for a duel not just of speed, but of memory, pride, and the stubborn desire to define one’s own ending. The narrative threads weave a meditation on fame, friendship, and the stubborn pull of a life lived in the crosshairs, where a man may walk away with the world still chasing him, or choose to stay, not to conquer, but to leave a mark that outlives his years.
Note: Bitter is portrayed by Shu Qi in this retelling, while the enigmatic Nobody is embodied by Nick Cheung Ka-Fai.
