It stars Tim Blake Nelson as the titular character, a farmer who must protect his son from outlaws, with Scott Haze, Gavin Lewis, Trace Adkins, and Stephen Dorff in supporting roles.

The trio, wearing sheriff's badges and led by a man named Sam Ketchum, come to the farm in search of Curry.

After stopping his son from running outside and getting killed, Henry goes into his room and arms himself with several guns, telling Wyatt "Keep your damn head down, you'll be alright".

Henry pretends to surrender before shooting Ketchum in the face, gunning down several men, and slipping out the back door of his farmhouse.

Both men chase and shoot at each other until Ketchum runs out of bullets, with Henry using his last shot to blow the outlaw's head off.

Studios announced a partnership to produce, finance, and distribute three Westerns, including Old Henry from writer and director Potsy Ponciroli.

"[3] Nelson feared the public would negatively compare his role as Henry to his performance as Buster Scruggs, characters he finds to be "opposites".

[5] On January 14, 2021, Stephen Dorff, Trace Adkins, Scott Haze, and Gavin Lewis joined the cast.

[9] It became a sleeper hit on VOD, staying in the top ten on iTunes for two consecutive months following initial release.

The website's consensus reads: "Led by a reliably solid performance from Tim Blake Nelson, Old Henry serves up a supple cut of vintage western rawhide.

"[13] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 69 out of 100, based on 18 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.

From TheWrap, Steve Pond said he wished parts of the film were "more expansive" but overall described it as a "beautiful elegy" with a finale that feels "just right.

"[15] Writing for The Hollywood Reporter, David Rooney described the direction of the film as a "well-crafted exercise in old-fashioned but durable genre tropes" that later "evolves into a satisfying reflection on the more complicated, somber realities behind the icons of the Wild West.

[19] At the end of the year, the National Board of Review selected it in its annual list of the Top Ten Independent Films.