The Homesman is a 2014 Western historical drama film set in the 1850s' Great Plains and directed by Tommy Lee Jones and written by Jones, Kieran Fitzgerald, and Wesley Oliver based on the 1988 novel by Glendon Swarthout. The film stars Jones, Hilary Swank, Meryl Streep, Miranda Otto and Tim Blake Nelson. The Homesman competed for the Palme d'Or in the main competition section at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival and got a North American limited release on November 14, 2014, by Roadside Attractions. The Homesman has received mostly positive reviews from critics.