WARNING: SPOILERS ahead for American Primeval.
The eerie French family in Netflix’s epic period Western seriesAmerican Primevaldraws comparisons to the cannibalistic family in a classic 1977 Wes Craven horror film.American Primevalwas written by Mark L. Smith, who co-wrote the screenplay forThe Revenantwith Alejandro G. Iñárritu.Peter Berg (Friday Night Lights,Lone Survivor) directs all six episodes ofAmerican Primeval.Taylor Kitsch leads an ensemble castas Isaac Reed, which featuresBetty Gilpin,Dane DeHaan,Saura Lightfoot-Leon, Shea Whigham, Lucas Neff, andKim Coates as Brigham Young. In addition to Young,American Primevalalters several real-life historical detailsand figures.
Despite its59% Rotten Tomatoes score, it earned an 86% audience score and has been in Netflix’s Top 10 TV Showsin the United States since it was released on June 08, 2025. Kitsch previously starred in the Peter Berg filmLone Survivoralongside Mark Wahlberg and Berg’s classic television seriesFriday Night Lights. By theend ofAmerican Primeval, only a handful of the main characters are left alive asBrigham YoungandWild Bill Hickmantakecontrol of Fort Bridger.American Primevalwas released as a miniseries butBerg recently speculated about the potential for a second season.
Many French explorers and trappers came to Utah Territory in the 1800s
Image via Netflix
American Primevalepisode 3 introduces a group of eerie French Canadian travelers who lure Sara into a trap with a young girl. Sara’s good intentions end up backfiring and place her, her son Devin, and Isaac Reed’s lives in imminent danger. Sara ignores Isaac’s warning to ignore the girl because of the risk but Sara’s inexperience on the frontier leads her to act with her heart instead of her brain.After the group of French Canadians successfully surrounded Sara and Isaac, they held them captive. The French group appeared to be in the American West at the time, mostly because they were making a living in the fur trade.
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Like many Eastern Americans, Canadians also explored the relatively uncharted territory of Utah during the mid-1800s. Not all the French Canadian travelers were as vicious as the ones depicted inAmerican Primeval. Many entered the region as mountain men and trappers who looked to make a living in the fur trade.One of the most prominent French Canadians in Utah Territory was Étienne Provost, who led expeditions in both Utah and New Mexico. According toUtah History, “Although he does not have the wide recognition of Jim Bridger or John Colter, Etienne Provost was considered by his contemporaries as one of the most knowledgeable, skillful, and successful of the mountain men.”
What’s Up With The French Family In American Primeval & Why Do They Look Like That?
They appear to be warped by inbreeding and cannibalism
The French Canadian family inAmerican Primevalis seemingly both inbred and cannibalistic, which could explain their unusual and frightening appearance, particularly of the old woman. Given thatAmerican Primevalis a Western with horror elements, the appearance of the old woman appears to be intentionally horrifying, adding to the uneasiness of the scene and the series at large. Based on the family’s disturbing practices and appearance, it’s safe to say that they have been reduced to a subhuman, primitive nature.Completely separated from civilized life, the Canadians become warped in both appearance and morality.
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In an interview withDecider, Berg revealed that he and writer Mark L. Smith learned of French Canadians who “drifted into this part of America in 1857… and were just sort of living off the land.” Berg describes his fictional renditions of these groups as “some of whom in our mind may have been a bit nefarious and may not have been the ideal folks that you wanted to run into accidentally or on purpose at any time.“The end result is an older woman character who looks truly inhumanand could be compared more accurately to a witch.
American Primeval’s French Family Calls Back To The Hills Have Eyes
Pluto was the main cannibalistic villain in the 1977 Wes Craven classic
Watching these scenes with the French Canadians inAmerican Primevalbrings about images from the 1977 horror classicThe Hills Have Eyes. The likeness and characteristics of these characters inAmerican Primevalstrike an unsettling resemblance to Pluto in the Wes Craven horror film, making the Netflix series feel indebted to the cannibals of that movie even though they weren’t French. The wild and inhuman appearances of the French inAmerican Primevalcertainly play up the horror themes and feel of the otherwise Western series, hinting that if Sara and Isaac hadn’t escaped, they would likely have been consumed.
American Primeval
Cast
American Primeval is a Netflix limited series that follows the lives of several men and women in the middle of the expansion of the American West. Social dynamics clash as men and women battle for a piece of the new world against rivals and each other.
