--- title: "Hostiles" year: 2017 kind: "film" canonical: "https://film.one/film/hostiles" fi1m_id: "hostiles" imdb_id: "tt5478478" tmdb_id: 384680 fi1m_score: 58 critics_score: 60 critics_reviews: 28 published: "2026-09-24T22:30:38.779466+00:00" updated: "2026-09-24T22:30:56.742312+00:00" region: "HK" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Hostiles (2017) Directed by Scott Cooper · 2h 14m · Drama, Western, History, Adventure ## Identity Hostiles - **Canonical:** https://film.one/film/hostiles - **Type:** Film - **Fi1m ID:** hostiles - **IMDb ID:** tt5478478 - **TMDB ID:** 384680 - **Same entity:** https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5478478/, https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/384680 **Fi1m score: 58** · Critics 60 from 28 reviews *In a sentence:* Christian Bale rides from New Mexico to Montana to learn what Wes Studi’s face told us in the first ten minutes > Scott Cooper’s western is handsomely shot and honestly grim, and Rosamund Pike is remarkable in it. But it is a story about a soldier and a Cheyenne chief in which only one of them is written as a person, and the ride repeats itself long before it is over. ## Synopsis A Comanche war party rides down on a homestead in New Mexico. Rosalee Quaid (Rosamund Pike) escapes into the scrub with her dead baby in her arms; her husband and daughters do not. At a nearby fort, Captain Joseph J. Blocker (Christian Bale), a cavalry officer near the end of a career spent fighting the Cheyenne, is ordered to escort the dying Chief Yellow Hawk (Wes Studi) and his family home to their lands in Montana. He refuses. Threatened with a court martial and the loss of his pension, he assembles a small detail, among them Master Sergeant Thomas Metz (Rory Cochrane) and Lieutenant Rudy Kidder (Jesse Plemons), and sets out. The column finds Rosalee in the burned house the next morning and takes her with them. ## Review Scott Cooper’s western opens with a raid and does not stop grieving for the next two hours. A Comanche war party rides down on a homestead in New Mexico, and Rosalee Quaid (Rosamund Pike) runs into the scrub with her dead baby in her arms. Some miles away Captain Joseph J. Blocker (Christian Bale), a cavalry officer who has spent his career killing Cheyenne, is ordered to escort the dying Chief Yellow Hawk (Wes Studi) and his family home to Montana. He refuses. He is told what the refusal will cost him, and he goes. *Hostiles* is a film about that ride, and it is serious, handsome and about half as good as it means to be. The land is the best thing in it. Masanobu Takayanagi shoots in wide frames that keep the column small and the country enormous: a line of riders threaded through pines, a river crossing in flat grey light, the fort a smudge of timber on a plain. Donald Graham Burt’s forts are raw board and whitewash, and Jenny Eagan’s uniforms have been worn until most of the blue has gone out of them. Max Richter’s score is mostly low strings held under the wind, and he has the sense to stop altogether when the shooting starts. When Tom Cross cuts an ambush it is quick, close and without ceremony; men fall off horses and stay fallen. Bale plays Blocker as a man who has locked everything away and thrown out the key. He speaks Cheyenne, keeps his hat on and his jaw set, and lets us see the hatred only in how carefully he does not look at Yellow Hawk. It is disciplined work and it is also, for long stretches, the same shot of the same face. Rory Cochrane’s Master Sergeant Metz, who has done the same killing and cannot lock it away, gives the film its most honest account of what the job costs. Jesse Plemons and Timothée Chalamet fill out the column as a keen lieutenant and a frightened private, and Ben Foster joins it in chains as Philip Wills, a soldier bound for the gallows for crimes not so different from the captain’s own. Pike is the reason to see it. The morning after the raid she is found in the burned house still holding her children and insisting they are asleep, and when the soldiers finally dig the graves she will not let anyone else lower the baby in. We were not prepared for it. It undid us in a way the rest of the film never manages again, and it did so because Pike plays it as a practical woman trying to do one last practical thing. Her Rosalee spends the journey putting herself back together a piece at a time, and the film is at its best whenever the camera remembers she is there. The trouble is Yellow Hawk. Studi has a face that can carry a scene without a word, and Cooper’s script gives him little else. The chief is sick, dignified and wise, and he stays sick, dignified and wise; his son Black Hawk (Adam Beach) and the rest of the family get even less. A film about a soldier learning to see his enemy as a man needs the enemy to be one on screen, and the script never gives him the chance. Blocker changes over the miles. Yellow Hawk waits for him to. The ride itself settles into a pattern: they travel, they are attacked, they bury someone, Blocker stares at the horizon, they travel. Cross cuts each leg in the same shape, and well before the halfway mark we could feel the next stretch coming. Peter Mullan turns up at a fort on the way as Lieutenant Colonel Ross McCowan for one warm dinner scene, and we were sorry to leave the table. Cooper writes better in rooms than on trails, and the film has a great many trails. The western has done this before and done it better. *The Searchers* let its hatred sit unresolved; *Ulzana’s Raid* let the enemy be as clever as the cavalry. *Hostiles* wants the reconciliation and has only done the work on one side of it. Worth an evening for Pike, for Takayanagi’s frames and for that dinner, if you are in the mood for 134 minutes that rarely raise their voice. It carries a 15 certificate for violence that is brief and ugly, and that is the right way for it to be. *Fi1m score 58, published 24 September 2026.* ## What the critics say The reviews divide almost evenly, with mixed verdicts the largest group. Most critics agree on where the film’s strengths lie: Christian Bale’s restrained lead performance, Rosamund Pike’s grief-stricken Rosalie and Wes Studi’s presence are praised across the spectrum. The widescreen landscapes draw near-universal approval, and several critics credit the film with taking the era’s violence seriously. The reservations are just as consistent. Critic after critic, including several who like the film, finds the Cheyenne characters thin, used to prompt the white characters’ growth rather than developed in their own right. The pace is called ponderous and the tone relentlessly grim. The spread is wide, from strong endorsements at the Los Angeles Times and The Wrap to outright dismissals at Paste and The New Yorker, and the harshest reviews are those that find the film’s politics compromised. Vulture is alone in faulting Pike, calling her performance a set of mannerisms. ## Straight answers **Is Hostiles worth watching?** *Hostiles* is worth watching mainly for Rosamund Pike, and we scored it 58. Scott Cooper's western is handsomely shot by Masanobu Takayanagi and honestly grim, but Wes Studi's Cheyenne chief is written as a symbol rather than a person, and the ride from New Mexico to Montana repeats the same pattern long before its 134 minutes are up. **How long is Hostiles, and what is it rated?** *Hostiles* runs 2h 14m. It is a drama and western film. **Where can I watch Hostiles in Hong Kong?** *Hostiles* is not on any streaming or rental service in Hong Kong at the moment. It is available in 28 other countries; change your country at the top of the page to see where. Availability is checked daily. **How violent or frightening is Hostiles, and is it suitable for children?** *Hostiles* carries a UK 15 certificate for violence that is brief and ugly, and it is not for children. It opens with a raid that leaves a mother holding her dead baby, and later ambushes are quick, close and without ceremony; men fall off horses and stay fallen. Older teenagers who can take a slow, mournful two hours will manage it. **How does Hostiles compare to Meek's Cutoff?** *Hostiles* is the more conventional and more violent of the two, and [*Meek's Cutoff*](https://film.one/film/meeks-cutoff) is the better film. Kelly Reichardt's wagon train is slow and parched, and lets its captive know more than his captors, where Cooper's script gives Wes Studi's chief little to do but wait for Christian Bale to change. Reichardt's is the one for a patient evening; ours has Pike. ### Reviews we read (28) - **Los Angeles Times**, Kenneth Turan (90/100, inferred): Turan praises “Hostiles” as an intense, compelling western with a forceful emotional pull. He singles out the performances, especially those of Christian Bale, Wes Studi and Rosamund Pike, as a major strength. [Read](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-hostiles-review-20171221-story.html) - **Radio Times**, Brian Pendreigh (4/5): Pendreigh finds that Cooper gives fresh life to a familiar reconciliation narrative. He particularly praises the film’s treatment of mutual respect emerging between former enemies. [Read](https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-ja4h2o/hostiles/) - **The i Paper**, Matthew Turner (★★★★): Turner praises the film as a searing, compelling Western with resonant themes, while noting that its progressive ideas are weakened by underdeveloped Native characters. He singles out Christian Bale’s performance and the controlled, inventive staging of the violence for praise. [Read](https://inews.co.uk/culture/film/hostiles-review-115192) - **Time Out**, Tomris Laffly (4/5): The review calls the Western a spiky entry in the genre’s revival. It singles out Rosamund Pike’s performance as stellar. [Read](https://www.timeout.com/movies/hostiles) - **Empire**, Dan Jolin (75/100, inferred): Jolin finds the film a finely crafted, deeply bittersweet Western that confronts the era’s violence without flinching. He especially praises Christian Bale’s performance and the cinematography’s sweeping vistas. [Read](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/hostiles-review/) - **The Hollywood Reporter**, Todd McCarthy (75/100, inferred): McCarthy finds the film a sorrowful, absorbing, estimable Western, though its grim mood may limit its audience. He especially praises Christian Bale’s subtly developed lead performance and the filmmakers’ sensitive depiction of the changing landscape. [Read](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/hostiles-review-1032266/) - **The Independent**, Geoffrey Macnab (★★★★☆): Macnab finds the Western striking but bleak, praising Christian Bale and Rosamund Pike’s performances and its rugged evocation of the Old West. He criticizes its predictable screenplay and traditional approach, while valuing its combination of action and soul-searching. [Read](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/reviews/film-reviews-roundup-hostiles-brad-s-status-jupiter-s-moon-walk-with-me-a8141331.html) - **RogerEbert.com** (64/100, inferred): The page could not be accessed, so the critic's verdict is unavailable. No praised or criticized element could be verified. [Read](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/hostiles-2017) - **Screen Daily**, Allan Hunter (64/100, inferred): The accessible page does not reveal the critic’s verdict. Its standfirst singles out the journey from New Mexico to Montana as the story’s focus. [Read](https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/hostiles-toronto-review/5122292.article) - **The New York Times** (64/100, inferred): The review text is unavailable, so its verdict cannot be determined. The page provides no readable details about what the critic praised or criticized. [Read](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/21/movies/hostiles-review-christian-bale.html) - **The AV Club**, Ignatiy Vishnevetsky (C+): The critic finds the film grim and politically vapid, with its larger story failing to develop its characters. He praises a moving farewell between two soldiers, while noting that the Cheyenne characters are underdeveloped. [Read](https://www.avclub.com/the-old-west-is-clinically-depressed-in-the-grim-christ-1821219501) - **Evening Standard**, Guy Lodge (3/5): Lodge finds the film aesthetically ravishing but relentlessly stern, and ultimately handsome yet lacking novelty. He praises its widescreen landscapes and committed performances, while criticizing its underdeveloped Native American characters and cultural bias. [Read](https://www.standard.co.uk/going-out/hostiles-film-review-the-wild-west-never-looked-so-good-a3732591.html) - **Little White Lies**, David Jenkins (3/3/3): Jenkins finds the film neither notably bad nor notably good, despite its earnest approach. He praises Bale’s committed performance while noting that it dominates the screen and leaves Pike comparatively little space. [Read](https://lwlies.com/reviews/hostiles) - **The Guardian**, Peter Bradshaw (50/100, inferred): Bradshaw finds the western flawed and somewhat glib, though its immediate dramatic effects are potent. He praises its beautifully composed widescreen images and persuasive response to the grandeur of the Old West. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/sep/12/hostiles-review-christian-bale-toronto-film-festival-tiff) - **Slant Magazine**, Chuck Bowen (1.5/4): Bowen sharply criticizes the film’s ponderous pace and self-conscious approach to Western revisionism. He particularly faults the underdeveloped relationship between Blocker and Yellow Hawk, while praising Wes Studi’s presence. [Read](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/hostiles/) - **Variety**, Peter Debruge (35/100, inferred): Debruge finds the film politically compromised and unconvincing in its attempt to redeem its white characters, despite its serious intentions. He praises its elegant widescreen imagery and Rosamund Pike’s performance, while faulting the Native characters’ thin development. [Read](https://variety.com/2017/film/reviews/hostiles-review-christian-bale-1202549822/) - **The New Yorker** (30/100, inferred): The review finds the film a formulaic Western whose grim tone and pacing cannot compensate for its lack of substance. It singles out the bare script for reducing the characters to pieces on a historical chessboard. [Read](https://www.newyorker.com/goings-on-about-town/movies/hostiles) - **Vulture**, Emily Yoshida (30/100, inferred): Yoshida finds the film well-intentioned but plodding, ultimately criticizing its failure to develop its Native characters. She singles out Rosamund Pike’s portrayal as a collection of trauma-related mannerisms rather than a convincing character. [Read](https://www.vulture.com/2017/12/hostiles-is-a-well-intentioned-downer-of-a-western.html) - **The Wrap** (90/100, inferred): The critic strongly praises the film as a hopeful, morally searching Western. They single out Christian Bale’s performance and the film’s glorious storytelling. [Read](https://www.thewrap.com/hostiles-review-christian-bale-scott-cooper-western-rosamund-pike/) - **Deadline**, Pete Hammond (80/100, inferred): Hammond finds the film grim but powerful and relevant, with a persuasive message about racial understanding. He especially praises Christian Bale’s restrained, deeply human performance, which he says carries the film. [Read](https://deadline.com/2017/12/hostiles-review-christian-bale-scott-cooper-western-video-1202230978/) - **The Ringer**, Shea Serrano (75/100, inferred): Serrano finds Rosamund Pike the film’s standout, delivering a deeply affecting performance. He especially praises how her expressive eyes convey Rosalie’s trauma and shifting emotions. [Read](https://www.theringer.com/2018/01/29/movies/rosamund-pike-hostiles-christian-bale-western-gone-girl) - **/Film**, Marshall Shaffer (7 out of 10): Shaffer finds the film uneven but full of compelling moments. He particularly praises Rosamund Pike’s performance as a source of empathy amid its cynicism and anguish. [Read](https://www.slashfilm.com/553324/hostiles-review/) - **Collider**, Adam Chitwood (C+): Chitwood finds the film a memorable, visually striking Western, though its slow pacing and thematic disconnect keep it from fully succeeding. He especially praises the haunting beauty of the New Mexico cinematography. [Read](https://collider.com/hostiles-review-christian-bale/) - **Den of Geek**, David Crow (2.5/5): Crow finds Hostiles visually exquisite and emotionally affecting, but says it buries its strengths in a repetitive, turgid eulogy for the Western. He praises Bale and Pike’s humane, affecting performances while criticizing the Native American supporting characters as clichés and ciphers. [Read](https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/hostiles-review/) - **Consequence**, Dominick Suzanne-Mayer (45/100, inferred): The critic finds Hostiles uneven, with moments of real poignancy but an underdeveloped portrayal of the Native family. Rosamund Pike’s grief-stricken burial scene stands out as especially powerful. [Read](https://consequence.net/2018/01/film-review-hostiles-captures-the-developing-west-in-all-of-its-brutality/) - **Eye for Film**, Angus Wolfe Murray (35/100, inferred): The review is largely critical, arguing that the film’s pace and closed-off lead performance make it a slog. It praises Rosamund Pike for bringing grit and color to Rosalie. [Read](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/hostiles-2017-film-review-by-angus-wolfe-murray) - **Paste**, Andy Crump (3.0/10): Crump finds the film pompous, inert, and frustratingly timid in its treatment of race. He praises Wes Studi and other Native American performers, while criticizing the film for reducing their characters to catalysts for white characters’ growth. [Read](https://www.pastemagazine.com/movies/hostiles/hostiles) - **The Playlist** (30/100, inferred): The headline signals a negative verdict, suggesting the film is overstuffed and problematic. It says the performances of Christian Bale and Rosamund Pike cannot overcome those flaws. [Read](https://theplaylist.net/hostiles-christian-bale-rosamund-pike-cant-save-overstuffed-problematic-western-telluride-20170905/) ## Details - **Director:** Scott Cooper - **Director:** Scott Cooper - **Screenplay:** Scott Cooper - **Story:** Donald E. Stewart - **Cinematography:** Masanobu Takayanagi - **Editor:** Tom Cross - **Music:** Max Richter - **Production design:** Donald Graham Burt - **Costume design:** Jenny Eagan - **Producer:** John Lesher, Scott Cooper, Ken Kao - **Cast:** Christian Bale as Captain Joseph J. Blocker; Rosamund Pike as Rosalee Quaid; Wes Studi as Chief Yellow Hawk; Jesse Plemons as Lieutenant Rudy Kidder; Adam Beach as Black Hawk; Rory Cochrane as Master Sergeant Thomas Metz; Peter Mullan as Lieutenant Colonel Ross McCowan; Scott Wilson as Cyrus Lounde - **Runtime:** 2h 14m - **First release (the US):** 2 September 2017 - **Genres:** Drama, Western, History, Adventure - **Budget:** $55 million - **Box office:** $37 million - **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrD0I-vLsXM ## Where to watch in Hong Kong Not streaming, renting or buying in Hong Kong at the last check. Also available in: AR, AT, AU, BE, BR, CA, CH, CL, CO, CZ, DE, DK, ES, FI, FR, GB, HU, IE, IN, IT, MX, NL, NO, NZ, PA, PL, SE, US. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country. ## If you liked this - *The Searchers* (1956): Ford’s western lets its hero’s hatred sit there without asking us to forgive it. - *Ulzana's Raid* (1972): A cavalry pursuit in which the Apache are the cleverest people on screen. - *Meek's Cutoff* (2010), Fi1m 82: Kelly Reichardt’s wagon train, slow and parched, where a captive knows more than his captors. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/meeks-cutoff.md) - *The Proposition* (2005): The Australian outback as the frontier, with Nick Cave’s script and no comfort anywhere. - *Sweet Country* (2017): An Aboriginal stockman on the run; the western remade from the other side. --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/film/hostiles