Film Review: Hostiles

"Sometimes I Envy The Finality Of Death. The Certainty. And I Have To Drive Those Thoughts Away When I Wake..."

Reuniting with Christian Bale after their work together on 2013's Out of the Furnace, Black Mass director Scott Cooper returns this week, screenplay in hand, with Hostiles, a taut, uncompromising and viciously gritty Western set in the final years of the 19th century which follows Bale's Captain Joe Blocker as he is tasked with escorting Wes Studi's aged and dying war chief back to his sacred homeland in time for his oncoming passing. Developed from a manuscript left by the Oscar winning screenwriter, Donald E. Stewart, before his death in 1999, Cooper's latest combines the nihilistic harshness and visceral violence of his previous works with an elegant, thematic fuelled character study which utilises the treacherous backdrop of the rocky plains of Native America to discuss notions of death, forgiveness and the mirror image qualities of right and wrong, and whilst many will head into the movie ready in wait for an abundance of action, Hostiles is brilliantly akin more to the likes of Unforgiven and Bone Tomahawk in its' fascination with the complexity of the human spirit over the generic and cliched Westernised shoot em up style action, and with some standout performances from its' leading stars, Cooper's latest is his most mature and richly rewarding release to date.

With Bale giving an outstanding full body performance, moustache and all, as the grizzly war torn Army Captain, who against his fundamental beliefs is forced to work alongside Studi's equally murderous and contemplative Native chief, the narrative weaves and twists through themes which touch onto the strangeness of human nature and the idea that man's true belonging is one of a fundamental survivalist nature which cannot ever be deceived. Setting the drama within a stark and desperate period of time of American history, the environment of the piece is beautifully presented by cinematographer Masanobu Takayanagi, a regular counterpart of Cooper, who captures the soaring, rocky vistas in eye-widening fashion, whilst the handling of the film's darkest elements are too expertly managed, with Cooper's presentation of the on-screen violence unnervingly realistic, with the opening act involving Rosamund Pike's family a blueprint intended to both set a baseline for the tone of the movie and reassure its' audience that Hostiles is a movie not at all for the faint of hearted. A few missteps aside, including the unnecessary inclusion of Ben Foster's character which somewhat sidetracks the pacing of the piece, Cooper's latest is an emotionally engaging and overwhelmingly powerful drama which follows in the footsteps of Bone Tomahawk, Slow West and Hell or High Water by being a contemporary Western which manages to be both fresh on its' own terms and respectful to its' inspirations, and on that basis alone, Hostiles is a wholly rewarding cinematic experience. 

Overall Score: 8/10