The 2017 Western American revisionist film Hostiles is based on the real-life story of Donald E. Stewart. Hostiles is a one of a kind Western” according to Scott Jason Cooper. The movie is directed and written by Scott Cooper and stars renowned artists Christian Bale, Wes Studi, Jesse Plemons, Rosamund Pike, Ben Foster, Rory Cochrane, Stephen Lang, Q’orianka Kilcher, Jonathan Majors, and Adam Beach. The storyline of Hostiles is set in the year 1892. It primarily revolves around Joseph Blocker, a US Army cavalry officer who is ordered to escort a Cheyenne war chief, Yellow Hawk, and his family back to their home in Montana.
The movie premiered on September 2, 2017 at the Telluride Film Festival. Entertainment Studios organized a limited release of the movie in the United States on December 22, 2017, before it gained global recognition on January 26, 2018. Hostiles received positive reviews from critics and made history by earning $38 million worldwide.
The Story
The year is 1892, and the movie begins from a small homestead in New Mexico, where Rosalee Quaid, a common woman, teaches her two young daughters the power of adverbs. The loving family is suddenly attacked by a war group of Comanche renegades who brutally kill her husband and their three children in front of her eyes. However, Rosalee somehow escapes by finding shelter under a rock outcrop.
The story then shifts to Fort Berringer in New Mexico, where Colonel Abraham Biggs commands the soon-to-retire Captain Joseph Blocker to escort Yellow Hawk under President Harrison’s orders. Due to his hatred for Native Americans initially, Captain Joseph Blocker denies the assignment because during the war, Yellow Hawk was responsible for the death of several of his men. However, because of the threat of a court-martial and possibly losing his pension, Joseph Blocker accepts the assignment with much reluctance.
During his trip to Montana, Captain Joseph is accompanied by Corporal Woodson, Sergeant Thomas Metz, Lieutenant Kidder, and young recruit Private Dejardin. During the expedition to the Valley of Bears, the first chance that Captain Joseph gets alone with Yellow Hawk, he challenges the retired war chief to a knife duel. Yellow Hawk, however, refuses to combat as he is already on his death bed. Captain Joseph then orders his men to put chains on Yellow Hawk and his son, Black Hawk. On the day of their journey, the group comes across Quaid’s house, where they find the devastated and traumatized Rosalee Quaid and the dead bodies of her beloved family.
Despite being in shock, Rosalee agrees to join the army until their stop at Fort Winslow, Colorado. Comanche then attacks the group regenerates who injure Woodson and kill Dejardin before being forced to retreat by Captain Joseph and his men. Seeing the deadly consequences of the first ambush, Yellow Hawk convinces Captain Joseph to unchain him and his family so that they may assist in the next attack. The following day Captain Joseph and his men discover the dead bodies of the three Comanche men who somehow managed to flee from the previous attack. On seeing the condition of the killed men, Captain Joseph correctly deduces that Black Hawk and Yellow Hawk had killed the enemy while everyone was asleep in their camp.
On their stay at Fort Winslow, although Captain Joseph arranges a stay for Rosalee with Colonel Ross McCowan and his wife till Christmas, she chooses to walk with the army. After tearful goodbye from Woodson, Colonel Ross charges Captain Joseph with the responsibility to escort the disgraced Sergeant Philip Wills for his court-martial and hanged to death to Montana where he brutally killed an Indiana family using an ax. Moreover, Sergeant Malloy and Corporal Thomas also join Captain Joseph’s army.
While all the men are busy preparing food and washing dishes, the chief’s daughter Living Woman, Black Hawk’s wife, Elk Woman, and Rosalee are kidnapped and raped by fur traders. Captain Blocker, Black Hawk, and Yellow Hawk track down the fur traders and slaughter them; however, the team loses Sergeant Malloy in the battle. The same night, Wills pretends to be sick and fools Kidder to unlock his chains. After succeeding in his plan, Wills kills Kidder and escapes.
Metz, on witnessing Wills’s escape, runs after him against Captain Joseph’s orders. The next day the army comes across the dead bodies of Wills and Metz, hinting that Metz killed Wills before taking his own life. Devastated by the death of his friend, Captain Joseph Blocker is consoled by Rosalee. As the team travels further north seeing the condition of Yellow Hawk’s deteriorating, Captain Joseph makes his peace with the chief for all the hardships they have inflicted upon each other.
Yellow Hawk, on reaching Montana, breathes his last. Captain Joseph and his troops prepare to leave when an aged man and his three sons declare themselves as landowners. The man and son ignore the president’s order, resulting in a brutal shootout that leaves Little Bear, Rosalee, and Captain Joseph the only survivors.
Rosalee adopts the adorable child and plans to continue her life in Chicago. On the other hand, Captain Joseph bids an emotional farewell to the duo. The moment the train starts moving, Captain Joseph jumps out of the train and reunites with Little Bear and Rosalee.
The Cast
- Christian Bale as the commander of Indiana wars; Captain Joseph J. Blocker.
- Wes Studi as an imprisoned Cheyenne war chief; Yellow Hawk.
- Rosamund Pike is an ordinary woman who joins Captain Joseph and his army after the murder of her family, Rosalee Quaid.
- Adam Beach as the son of Yellow Hawk; Black Hawk.
- Jesse Plemons as a west point graduate and a member of the troops; Lt. Rudy Kidder.
- Rory Cochrane as a war-weary veteran and Joseph’s oldest friend, Sgt. Thomas Metz.
- Peter Mullan as the commander of Fort Winslow; Lt. Col Ross McCowan.
- Paul Anderson as a British soldier; Captain Tommy Thomas.
- Scott Wilson as the owner of the ancestral land of Yellow Hawk, Cyrus Lounde.
- Ben Foster as a criminal soldier charged to be hanged-to-death; Sgt. Philip Wills.
- Timothee Chalamet as a young, French-speaking recruit; Pvt. Philippe Dejardin.
- John Benjamin Hickey as solider of Fort Berringer; Captain Royce Tolan.
- Jonathan Majors as a loyal black soldier of Blockers army; Captain Henry Woodson.
- Tanaya Beatty is the sister of Black Hawk, Living Woman.
- Q’orianka Kilcher as Black Hawk’s wife; Elk Woman.
- Stephen Lang as Joseph’s commanding officer; Col. Abraham Biggs.
- Scott Shepherd as Rosalee’s killed husband, Wesley Quaid.
- Bill Camp as a Harper’s Weekly frontier correspondent; Jeremiah Wilks.
- Xavier Horsechief as the young son of Black Hawk; Little Bear.
- Robyn Malco as Col. McCowan’s wife; Minnie McCowan.
- Ryan Bingham as a soldier from Fort Winslow; Sgt. Malloy.
The Reception
The Scott Cooper movie grossed $29.8 million in the United States and Canada and $5.8 million from other countries around the world, which added up to a profit of $35.5 million worldwide. Hostiles also hold a rating of 6.78/10 and the classic revisionist western movie has achieved several awards.
