How to watch The Gunfighter — The best short film you’ve never seen

This unique western short film is a real hidden gem. So, here’s how to watch The Gunfighter, why it’s so special, and what the movie is about.

The Gunfighter is one of the best movies from the American short scene, and while its competition is stiff (we’re looking at you, Borrowed Time), Eric Kissack’s dark comedy is tough to beat.

The live-action film from 2014 is a nine-minute-long tale set in the Old West. So if you’re into Western TV shows and movies, you’ll find lots to love in its genre-twisting structure.

If that’s not enough, it’s narrated by Nick Offerman (Parks and Recreation, The Last of Us) and you can find it online for free. It doesn’t cost a dime to enter these saloon doors, so why not step in?

How to watch The Gunfighter

You can watch The Gunfighter for free on YouTube. It’s on MAGNETFILM’s channel.

If you’d like, you can skip to the fun part and watch it below right now.

MAGNETFILM is a boutique company based in Berlin focusing on quality shorts and documentaries. The Gunfighter has racked up over 4.5 million views on its channel.

Should you have some spare time on a quiet Sunday afternoon, new movies are uploaded occasionally with a wealthy backlog of stories to dig into.

What’s the short film about?

The Gunfighter is about a man who enters an Old West saloon, where he hears a voice narrating the scene.

A lone-wolf, wearied gunfighter (Shawn Parsons) walks through saloon doors in a small town. As he enters the room surrounded by townspeople, a voice (Offerman) begins narrating.

But unlike the typical use of the narrator trope in western movies, The Gunslinger’s characters can hear it diegetically.

The omniscient voice divulges the deepest secrets of the patrons, exposing infidelity, prejudice, and more. As the film unfolds, the voice is revealed as a bloodthirsty presence that wants to cause chaos in the town.

Is The Gunfighter worth watching?

The Gunfighter is worth watching. It’s an unusual, well-made, award-winning film that was a hit with western fans.

A video essay by Tanvir Akhtar with over 9 million views called Kissack’s work the “best short film ever.” This critique is credited with bringing a lot of extra eyeballs to The Gunfighter, displaying the power of word-of-mouth hype in independent filmmaking.

It screened at many international festivals and took home prizes from the Los Angeles Film Festival, Palm Springs Short Film Festival, and LA Shorts.

The Gunfighter has also been used countless times for film studies analysis, due to the meta nature of the narration and the twist on the western genre.

For more, see our list of the best Yellowstone episodes, our The Dead Don’t Hurt review, or how to watch all Kevin Costner westerns. We’ve also explained why Kevin Costner will either save the western or kill them off entirely with his new film, Horizon.