Synopsis
Building off of the acclaimed transmedia web mini-series released this past summer (2017), the feature film, Arkansas Traveler, is a gritty, dark Faustian adventure into the life and mind of a man released by forces beyond his ken from the bloody grip of the last days of the American Civil War.
WAYLAND MCGLAWHORN is a condemned Confederate soldier being held prisoner in a corn crib by a Union company. With the help of the enigmatic CAPT. DOOGLE, he escapes and embarks on a treacherous journey home to Arkansas to rejoin the wife and family he left behind.
Dressed in the clothes of a dead carpetbagger, Wayland travels the back roads of the war-torn South -a world filled with danger and brutality - which deprives him of the opportunity to cool his guns and mend his violent, tortured ways. Along the road, he helps fellow wanderer, TRAVELER, a woman of great strength, who runs an underground railroad to liberate slaves.
Together, they survive the violent back roads of Missouri and eventually arrive at Wayland’s home in Arkansas. There, they discover more scars left by the war. Once home, Wayland’s mother, NANCY, reveals that his wife Laura died during childbirth; a child conceived, no less, with his younger brother, FRANKIE. Frankie too is missing, having fled to the Indian nations after killing a Union soldier. Before Wayland can even shake the road dust from his clothes, his mother pleads with him to seek out his brother and bring him home.
Still plagued by the war horrors that haunt him, Wayland reluctantly agrees and leaves with Traveler to ride west into a hostile land, following her guidance on his journey through this foreign territory; uncertain whether theirs is a mission of salvation or vengeance…
With a committed cast of Sean Bridgers (TV's Get Shorty), Garret Dillahunt (Hand of God), and Ian McShane (John Wick) in key roles, this production is sure to appeal to the many Deadwood fans left wanting more by the show's unsatisfying demise. Additionally, the authentically crafted screenplay has piqued the interest of other name actors, who's eventual commitments promise to round out a very marketable ensemble.