Pursued

Pursued

Year: 1947

Runtime: 101 mins

Language: English

Director: Raoul Walsh

WesternRomanceDrama

Robert Mitchum battles to protect three loved ones, including his own family, who oddly wish him dead. In the 1880s, a boy haunted by nightmares of his family's murder is raised by a neighboring family. He falls for his beautiful adoptive sister, while his cruel adoptive brother and enigmatic uncle conspire to kill him.

Pursued (1947) – Spoiler-Free Movie Summary & Plot Overview

Get a spoiler-free look at Pursued (1947) with a clear plot overview that covers the setting, main characters, and story premise—without revealing key twists or the ending. Perfect for deciding if this film is your next watch.

In the arid outskirts of turn‑of‑the‑century New Mexico, the land is as unforgiving as the memories that cling to its dust‑splattered towns. A lingering melancholy drifts through the open plains, where the echo of old grudges mixes with the promise of a new frontier. The film’s tone is deliberately stark, blending western grit with a psychological edge that keeps the viewer waiting for the next breath of tension to surface.

Jeb Rand arrives as a silent, scarred child, his past reduced to fragmented nightmares of a night when his family vanished. Rescued and raised by the widowed Mrs. Callum, he grows up alongside her daughter Thor and son Adam, forming a makeshift family that is both his sanctuary and his source of unease. The bond between Jeb and Thor deepens into something tender yet fraught, while his relationship with Adam remains a volatile mix of brotherly rivalry and hidden resentment.

The household’s fragile peace is constantly tested by a lingering feud that predates Jeb’s arrival, hinting at secrets that ripple through generations. As he tries to carve out a place for himself, Jeb discovers that the people he loves—perhaps even his own adoptive family—harbor doubts about his loyalties, and an enigmatic uncle looms in the background, suggesting that danger may wear a familiar face. The atmosphere is thick with suspicion, and every interaction carries the weight of unspoken motives.

Against this backdrop of cracked homesteads and restless horizons, Jeb’s struggle becomes a fight for belonging and survival. He must navigate the fine line between protecting those who have taken him in and confronting the shadows that threaten to consume them all, all while the relentless wind of the desert seems to whisper that the past is never truly buried.

Last Updated: December 05, 2025 at 09:51

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Noir-infused Westerns like Pursued

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Stories in this thread typically follow a protagonist, often an outsider or a man with a troubled past, who becomes entangled in a web of betrayal, vengeance, or a dark secret. The journey is less about clear-cut heroism and more about navigating a morally gray world where psychological torment is as dangerous as physical threats.

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Movies are grouped here for their distinctive fusion of Western iconography with noir sensibilities. They share a dark, tense tone, a focus on psychological depth over pure action, and a visual and narrative style that emphasizes fatalism, moral ambiguity, and brooding suspense.

Movies about repressed trauma like in Pursued

Characters unravel a dark past that has silently shaped their present.Explore films like Pursued where a character's life is haunted by a buried childhood trauma. If you were captivated by Jeb's psychological journey and the slow unraveling of his family's dark secret, these movies offer similar powerful explorations of memory, guilt, and confronting a painful past.

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Narrative Summary

The narrative pattern involves a central mystery tied to the protagonist's identity, driven by fragmented memories, nightmares, or unexplained phobias. The plot's progression is often tied to the protagonist piecing together the traumatic event, which recontextualizes their current relationships and conflicts, leading to a climactic confrontation with the truth.

Why These Movies?

These films are grouped together for their central focus on the psychological impact of repressed trauma. They share a heavy emotional weight, a steady or slow-burn pacing that allows for psychological depth, and a tone that is often dark, suspenseful, and deeply melancholic.

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Characters, Settings & Themes in Pursued

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