Hostiles Review
As we enter the thick of this year’s awards season, Hostiles has largely fallen by the wayside and inexplicably so, in my opinion. The story revolves around Captain Joseph J. Blocker (Christian Bale), a soon to retire soldier, forced into escorting Yellow Hawk (Wes Studi), a dying Cheyenne chief, to sacred burial ground.
Rosamund Pike and Christian Bale deserve Oscar nominations, both giving great and impressively nuanced performances. From a technical standpoint, the film is practically spotless. The cinematography is top notch, the cast is amazing, and the musical score rounds it all out, complimenting the foreboding nature of the entire movie. That said, fantastic visuals and sound design can only do so much. Luckily, Hostiles is also a very interesting story full of intelligently written dialogue.
This film not only portrays the wild, wild west but also the hard, hard west. Hostiles begins with an extremely brutal scene that sets off the tone for the entire movie and gives a great set up to Rosamund Pike’s character. She is given a very complex role to play with and she delivers with a worthy performance.
Hostiles is one of the most stark and unforgiving films I’ve seen in recent memory. However, this opens it up to also becoming a story of amazing depth and subtlety. It touches on some very universal themes and tells a timeless lesson. In an age when everything seems to be either black or white, this film isn’t afraid to question and explore the grey areas of issues.
In order to achieve all this, the film definitely takes its time. While this does add a needed layer of authenticity to the story, it also tests your patience at times. It’s a bit of a double-edged sword. Its deliberate pacing allows the audience to really experience the world and develop a connection with the characters. On the other hand, that also makes the story drag at certain points.
By the end, you feel as if you’ve experienced the brutal and lengthy journey with the characters and the conclusion of Hostiles feels both appropriate and earned. It’s a film that raises a lot of interesting points and leaves itself wide open for discussion. That’s a characteristic of a well crafted movie.
Hostiles is excellent and it deserves much more acclaim than it’s getting. It’s refreshing to be presented with a story that doesn’t push one side over another but instead presents the issues and lets itself play out for the audience to decide. Go and check this one out if you can.
