Behind our mask, we eye at each other uneasily. We step in wide berths. We elbow shake. Some days the world is so alien, so upside-down, it feels like an alternate universe. This idea—awakening to a new, unnatural reality and finding a way to cope—is a prescient theme of my early 2020 released book, The Between.

The Matrix. A film that exploded into our consciousness in glorious CGI madness back in 1999, right on the cusp of the Millennium.

Stone Rider owes a great deal to the power of Cormac McCarthy’s writing. The way he is able can take you on a ride into the heart of darkness, but in a way that that makes you feel a sense of wonder, rather than bleakness, despite the barbarism of his frontier worlds.

Six modern day great films that influenced the gritty, futuristic tone and the western-inspired story world of Stone Rider.