Dermot Mulroney (left) with Blaine Maye in Long Shadows. Photo by Tiuu Loigu.

For generations, people have been called to the great American West. The mystique and promise of the frontier, the romance of the cowboy lifestyle has long captivated the minds of audience members far and wide. That same call is felt in William Shockley’s Long Shadows, the narrative feature that made its Florida premiere this past week at the Sarasota Film Festival and is set for widespread distribution this summer. Long Shadows, which is Shockley’s feature directorial debut, is a sweeping tale of romance, tragedy and bloodshed taking place across the Arizona Territory in the 1880s.

“I love the truth of the time,” says Shockley, best known for his role as Hank Lawson on the western drama series Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman. “I love the brutalness, the harshness and just how hard-scrabble it was. There were no props back then, no FaceTime or texting or email. Even though it was a horribly hard life, there’s such a simple beauty to it all.”

Long Shadows is in many ways a film about what happens when tenderness is violated. The story follows Marcus Dollar, played by newcomer Blaine Maye, a misguided cowboy who after aging out of the orphanage in which was partially raised, sets out to avenge the savage killing of his parents six years prior. On his bloody path of revenge, Dollar falls in love with Dulce Flores (Sarah Cortez), a young Mexican woman trapped in a brothel by the ruthless Vivian Villeré (Jacqueline Bisset) and seeks mentorship from an old gunslinger, Dallas Garrett (Dermot Mulroney).

Long Shadows, however, is not just a shoot-em-up, but instead an exploration of Dollar’s mental state and deep psychological trauma. Within the backdrop of the lawless West, Dollar wrestles with his mind as he determines what kind of man he wants to be: a vengeful killer or a force for good in a desolate, dark world.

With much of the emotional weight of the film falling on the shoulders of Maye and Cortez, casting the right actors to play Dollar and Flores was imperative to the film’s success.

“There are a lot of guys who can play great cowboys, but Blaine just had the essence, he had the look, the charm and the chops to go along with it,” says Shockley. “Sarah is so subtle and nuanced, she can speak a thousand words with just a look.”

Dermot Mulroney (left) with Blaine Maye in Long Shadows. Photo by Tiuu Loigu.

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