The Last Victim is a 2021 American neo-noir, neo-Western crime-thriller film directed and produced by Naveen A Chathapuram in his directorial debut from a screenplay by Ashley James Louis, based on a story by Doc Justin and Chatapuram.

It stars Ali Larter, Ralph Ineson, Ron Perlman, Kyle Schmid, Dakota Daulby, Camille Legg, and Tom Stevens.

A group of outlaws, led by the charismatic Jake Samuels, is pursued by the aging Sheriff Hickey and his deputy Mindy Gaboon after a crime goes wrong in the American Southwest.

The gang of outcasts soon crosses paths with Susan Orden, an anthropologist with OCD, and her husband, Richard, who witness them in the midst of covering up a horrendous crime.

Director Naveen A Chathapuram was introduced to the storyline by anthropologist Dr. Neal 'Doc' Justin and the two were originally going to make the feature as an ultra-low budget independent genre film in the vein of Breakdown (1997).

[1] Chathapuram then brought on a series of producers and investors and was eventually able to raise around $2 million dollars in order to fund the low-budget independent film.

[12] Jeffery M. Anderson of Common Sense Media and noted Canadian film critic Richard Crouse both gave the film moderately positive "3/5" ratings, with Anderson saying it's "A neo-Western with a bit of a bite" that "gives its fascinating characters -- and, amazingly, the audience -- credit for being smart enough to follow its twisty checkerboard jumps"[13] while Richard Crouse called it "a very strong directorial debut that packs excitement into the storytelling, including a rather surreal climax, with enough twists to keep the story of survival compelling throughout.

"[14] Negative reviews of the film include Joe Leydon of Variety, who called it "the latest in a seemingly endless line of neo-noir thrillers with a neo-western gloss".

"[17] One noted fan of the film is best-selling author Stephen King, who recommended The Last Victim in a Tweet on September 24 of 2022, saying "Looking for a bloodthirsty little thriller?