When Hostiles hit theaters in 2017, it was largely greeted with a collective shrug despite starring Christian Bale, Rosamund Pike and a young Timothée Chalamet.
However, the film’s strong showing on Netflix has transformed Hostiles from a forgotten film into a streaming hit.
Scott Cooper wrote and directed Hostiles from a story by Donald E. Stewart, and it’s one of the best Westerns of the 21st century.
That’s why Watch With Us is sharing three reasons you should watch Hostiles this month on Netflix.
The Cast Is Phenomenal
Hostiles is one of the rare films that features established stars like Bale, Studi and Pike alongside a lot of up-and-coming performers like Timothée Chalamet, Jesse Plemons, Ben Foster and Jonathan Majors before they became stars in their own right. Bale carries most of the movie as Captain Joseph J. Blocker, a man who is so hardened by his battles with the native tribes that he views his old adversary, Chief Yellow Hawk (Studi), with sheer contempt.
Pike plays a widowed woman, Rosalee Quaid, who becomes an unexpected member of Blocker’s expedition party to escort Yellow Hawk and his family to their ancestral land. Despite enduring an atrocity at the beginning of the film, Rosalee opens up her heart to the chief’s family and feels empathy for them. Foster doesn’t join the story until much later, but he’s mesmerizing as Sgt. Philip Wills, a twisted reflection of Blocker who reminds him of his sins in battle. All of the performances from the lead and secondary cast members are terrific, and they collectively elevate the film.
‘Hostiles’ Evolves Into a Story of Friendship
Blocker is so openly hostile to Yellow Hawk at the beginning of the story that a thaw in their relationship initially feels far-fetched. Studi brings a lot of gravitas to Yellow Hawk, whose willingness to let go of the past eventually reaches Blocker. It takes a long time to reach that common ground, as well as some intense battles with their mutual enemies along the way.
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When the time comes for Blocker and Yellow Hawk to make their peace with each other, it’s a heartfelt moment of mutual forgiveness. They’ve both hurt and killed others during their war with each other, but they manage to look past their mutual faults and find friendship as their time together nears its end.
The Ending Finds Hope in the Darkness
Without giving too much away about the ending, the party has one last tragedy to endure before the end that threatens to squeeze the life out of the movie. It’s a pretty brutal turn of events that feels deflating after everything else that happened.
If Hostiles had ended on that bleak note, it would have been too much darkness for a single film. While the conclusion isn’t exactly a happy ending, it offers some hope for the survivors that wasn’t there before. One simple decision in the closing moments of the film can’t wipe out all of the horrible things that happened beforehand. But it feels right, and it’s the closest thing that the audience is going to get to the remaining characters going off into the sunset like the classic Western heroes.
Hostiles is streaming on Netflix.
