Requiem for Billy the Kid recounts the life of Billy the Kid. The premise of the film is an investigation into the often-challenged circumstances that led to the death of the 21-year old outlaw in the hands of sheriff Pat Garrett on July 14, 1881. As we follow the modern sheriff on camera, off camera Billy the Kid, played by Kris Kristofferson, gives his own account of the events. Part poetic evocation, part road-movie, Requiem for Billy the Kid is essentially homage to the western genre and to the people who today still live up to that life.