---
title: "The Hateful Eight"
year: 2015
kind: "film"
canonical: "https://film.one/film/the-hateful-eight"
fi1m_id: "the-hateful-eight"
imdb_id: "tt3460252"
tmdb_id: 273248
wikidata_id: "Q18225084"
fi1m_score: 68
critics_score: 69
critics_reviews: 19
published: "2026-09-09"
updated: "2026-09-18T08:37:52.411778+00:00"
region: "US"
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."
---

# The Hateful Eight (2015)

Directed by Quentin Tarantino · 3h 08m · MPA R · Drama, Mystery, Western

## Identity

The Hateful Eight

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/film/the-hateful-eight
- **Type:** Film
- **Fi1m ID:** the-hateful-eight
- **IMDb ID:** tt3460252
- **TMDB ID:** 273248
- **Wikidata ID:** Q18225084
- **Same entity:** https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3460252/, https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/273248, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q18225084

**Fi1m score: 68** · Critics 69 from 19 reviews

*In a sentence:* Eight people, one cabin, and the only honest character is the blizzard

> Tarantino’s snowbound whodunnit is superbly built, finely scored and far too long, and its cruelty is the point rather than the price. Worth an evening for the cast and for Morricone; do not expect to like anyone in it.

## Synopsis

Wyoming, a few years after the Civil War. A bounty hunter, John Ruth (Kurt Russell), is taking his prisoner Daisy Domergue (Jennifer Jason Leigh) by stagecoach to hang. On the road he picks up Major Marquis Warren (Samuel L. Jackson), another bounty hunter with three frozen corpses and a letter he says was written by Abraham Lincoln, and Chris Mannix (Walton Goggins), who claims to be the town’s new sheriff. A blizzard forces them into a stopover run by a woman called Minnie (Dana Gourrier). She is not there. Four strangers are: Bob (Demián Bichir), Oswaldo Mobray (Tim Roth), Joe Gage (Michael Madsen) and General Sandy Smithers (Bruce Dern). Written and directed by Quentin Tarantino, with music by Ennio Morricone.

## Review

Quentin Tarantino puts eight people in one room and a blizzard outside it. A bounty hunter, John Ruth (Kurt Russell), is taking a prisoner, Daisy Domergue (Jennifer Jason Leigh), to hang. On the road he picks up another bounty hunter, Major Marquis Warren (Samuel L. Jackson), and a man who says he is the new sheriff, Chris Mannix (Walton Goggins). The storm drives them into a stopover where four strangers are already waiting, and somebody is lying. *The Hateful Eight* is expertly made and it runs 188 minutes, and the second fact does the first no favours.

Robert Richardson opens on snowfields, a stone crucifix and a six-horse coach, then goes indoors and stays there. He uses the width of the frame for faces: a line of men along a bar, a man at the far edge listening to a conversation at the other. Yohei Taneda’s stopover is one long wooden room with a stove, a bar, a bed, a chessboard and a door that has to be nailed shut every time it is opened, and by the end we knew where everything in it stood. Ennio Morricone’s score, a low dragging brass theme that sounds like something large moving under the snow, is the best thing in the film and is not used nearly enough.

Jackson gives Warren the grave, amused courtesy of a man who has decided the cabin is his. Russell plays Ruth as a walrus in a coat, all moustache and bark, chained at the wrist to his prisoner and hitting her whenever she speaks. Leigh takes the blows and grins through the blood, and she makes Daisy funnier and more frightening the worse she looks. Goggins’s Mannix is the one who made us laugh, a man whose mouth runs a mile ahead of his judgement, and he is the only character who changes across the three hours.

Tim Roth plays Oswaldo Mobray, a travelling hangman, with a clipped English delivery that is a performance of a performance, and it is a pleasure. Demián Bichir’s Bob says little and stirs a stew. Michael Madsen’s Joe Gage writes in a journal in the corner. Bruce Dern’s General Sandy Smithers sits by the fire and hates Warren on sight, and their exchange is the film’s best-written stretch, two old soldiers deciding how much of the war to bring indoors. Courtney Hoffman dresses each man to look like what he wants to be taken for, which is not the same as what he is.

Here is what we felt, and we did not enjoy feeling it. Every time Ruth’s fist lands on Daisy the film treats it as a punchline, and the first time we laughed. By the third we had stopped, and by the sixth we were looking at the floor. Leigh is so good that the cruelty registers as cruelty, which we suspect is the intention; the film also uses it as a running gag, and we could not hold both in our heads at once.

Fred Raskin’s cutting is patient to a fault. Scenes run until every man has had his say twice. The talk is good talk, about the war, about who fought for whom and what Warren’s letter means, and for the first hour it holds. Somewhere in the second hour, with the stew on and the door nailed shut again, we looked at our watch, and again twenty minutes later. Then the second half takes a turn we will not describe, and Raskin cuts the last stretch fast, loud and red, as if released.

Set against Tarantino’s own films this is [*Reservoir Dogs*](https://film.one/film/reservoir-dogs) (1992) with the heating off: one room, men in the wrong company, a rat among them. That film was tight; this one is not, and the extra hour is spent on speeches. The speeches want to be about America, the war just finished and the country it left. Sometimes they are. More often they are about how much Tarantino enjoys the sound of a man telling a story, and the film cannot tell the difference.

See it at home, where the length is a smaller problem and the cabin stays the size of a cabin. It is an 18, and the certificate is not a formality.

*Fi1m score 68, published 9 September 2026.*

## What the critics say

Most critics like The Hateful Eight, but the spread is unusually wide, running from outright admiration to open hostility. The praise clusters on the cast, with Samuel L. Jackson and Jennifer Jason Leigh named again and again, and on Tarantino’s dialogue, the 70mm photography and the Morricone score. Several reviews describe it as a return to the single-room set-up of Reservoir Dogs, now with flashbacks and a political charge on race.

The reservations are just as consistent: the running time, a talky first half that more than one critic calls a slog, and a suspicion that Tarantino is indulging himself. The dissenters are not fringe voices. The New Yorker finds the film sadistic, piling up tension only to spend it on carnage; Vulture argues the wit and the cruelty are the same thing; the Los Angeles Times calls it a bore stretched to excessive length. Even admirers concede the violence and the racial epithets will send some viewers away.

## Straight answers

**Is The Hateful Eight worth watching?**

*The Hateful Eight* is worth an evening for its cast and for Ennio Morricone's score, and we scored it 68. It is expertly built and it runs 188 minutes, and the second hour drags while every man has his say twice. Watch it at home, where the length is a smaller problem, and do not expect to like anyone in it.

**How long is The Hateful Eight, and what is it rated?**

*The Hateful Eight* runs 3h 08m and is rated R by the MPA in the US. It is a drama and mystery film.

**Where can I watch The Hateful Eight in the US?**

*The Hateful Eight* is streaming on Amazon Prime Video in the US, and it is also available to rent from Amazon Prime Video and Apple TV from $3.99. Availability is checked daily; the links above go straight to each service.

**How violent or frightening is The Hateful Eight, and is it suitable for children?**

*The Hateful Eight* is an 18 in the UK and R in the US, and the certificate is not a formality; it is unsuitable for children and for most younger teenagers. A chained prisoner is punched repeatedly and the film treats the blows as punchlines, which we found hard to watch, and the last stretch is fast, loud and bloody. The squeamish should stay away.

**How does The Hateful Eight compare to Reservoir Dogs?**

*The Hateful Eight* is [*Reservoir Dogs*](https://film.one/film/reservoir-dogs) with the heating off: one room, men in the wrong company, a rat among them, and the earlier film is the tighter of the two. *Reservoir Dogs* plays the same game in under two hours; the later film spends an extra hour on speeches. Choose *Reservoir Dogs* for structure and pace, *The Hateful Eight* for the larger cast and Morricone.

**What should I watch after The Hateful Eight?**

After *The Hateful Eight*, try [*Reservoir Dogs*](https://film.one/film/reservoir-dogs) (1992, Fi1m 86): The same one-room game, played in under two hours and warmer. Then [*The Thing*](https://film.one/film/the-thing) (1982, Fi1m 88): Kurt Russell, snow, a sealed room and nobody sure who is what; and [*Stagecoach*](https://film.one/film/stagecoach) (1939, Fi1m 84): Strangers thrown together on the road; the original template, and brisker.

### Reviews we read (24)

- **The AV Club**, Ignatiy Vishnevetsky (A-): The film is a stubbornly theatrical, difficult Western that withholds action before exploding into gruesome violence and concludes on a disquieting note of hope, presenting a perverse vision of sadistic men comforted by false causes and the betrayed promise of America. [Read](https://www.avclub.com/quentin-tarantino-gets-theatrical-in-the-70mm-western-t-1798186033)
- **The Guardian**, Peter Bradshaw (90/100, inferred): The critic hails Tarantino's audacious screenwriting as powering a brilliantly cast, superbly scored and horribly violent epic about snowed-in desperadoes. The dialogue, structural audacity with flashbacks, and performances especially by Samuel L. Jackson are singled out for praise. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/jan/07/the-hateful-eight-review-tarantino-triumphs-with-a-western-of-wonder)
- **Financial Times**, Damon Wise (80/100, inferred): The critic finds the film a provocative return to Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs template, now with multiple timeframes and a political subtext on race and injustice. The performances and Morricone score are noted amid the violent secrets that unfold in the remote setting. [Read](https://www.ft.com/content/78c5addc-b540-11e5-8358-9a82b43f6b2f)
- **Radio Times**, Alan Jones (4/5): Reservoir Dogs goes West in this homage to cowboy TV shows and Sergio Corbucci. The dialogue-heavy first half is a bit of a slog but the brutal wit, upended clichés and fine cast deliver a polished and satisfying conclusion. [Read](https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-ob9f2i/the-hateful-eight/)
- **Time Out** (4/5): Tarantino's most pleasingly claustrophobic film since Reservoir Dogs mixes Agatha Christie with John Carpenter in a talky whodunnit western. It is as pure an expression of his voice as ever, savoury yet with a hint of nasty bitterness. [Read](https://www.timeout.com/movies/the-hateful-eight)
- **Variety**, Peter Debruge (80/100, inferred): The critic finds the film a delicious if familiar hothouse whodunit that delivers on Tarantino’s signature dialogue, suspense, and confrontations despite its length and echoes of prior works. It singles out Jennifer Jason Leigh’s memorable turn as the standout performance amid the strong ensemble. [Read](https://variety.com/2015/film/reviews/the-hateful-eight-film-review-1201660267/)
- **The New York Times**, A.O. Scott (75/100, inferred): The critic sees the film as a quintessential Quentin Tarantino movie that blends verbiage and violence while riffing on his own past work and classic films. It singles out the sumptuous 70mm presentation and the ensemble cast of familiar faces for their contributions to the tension and allusions. [Read](https://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/25/movies/review-quentin-tarantinos-the-hateful-eight-blends-verbiage-and-violence.html)
- **Evening Standard**, David Sexton (70/100, inferred): The critic views the film as a pompous opera inflated from a compact closed-room mystery, full of speechifying and sudden extreme violence. He finds it mannered, grandiose and self-indulgent yet absolutely expert in its execution and aesthetic approach, with strong turns from the ensemble. [Read](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/film/the-hateful-eight-film-review-a3151521.html)
- **Screen Daily** (70/100, inferred): Conceptually brilliant as a slow-burn meditative chamber piece that reveals grander ambitions, though Tarantino's indulgences in gratuitous violence and racial epithets remain fully on display. The protracted opening may leave some cold. [Read](https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/the-hateful-eight-review/5097589.article)
- **Film Comment**, Steven Mears (65/100, inferred): The film is a grand monument to Tarantino's style and indulgence, best enjoyed in 70mm if one appreciates his work. It shifts from an engaging first act into stretches of tedium before highlighting strong performances, especially Jennifer Jason Leigh's. [Read](https://www.filmcomment.com/article/review-the-hateful-eight-quentin-tarantino/)
- **Little White Lies**, Adam Woodward (2/3/3): Tarantino's bloody, bloated ensemble western is overshadowed by his own inflated ego and feels like he is living on past reputation. It has standout scenes and performances but is ultimately underwhelming and frustrating. [Read](https://lwlies.com/reviews/the-hateful-eight)
- **Sight and Sound**, Michael Atkinson (60/100, inferred): The film is a protracted TV-play-like chamber piece in a snowbound cabin that tests viewers' patience and ardour for Tarantino's tastes. It lacks ideas compared to his better work but rewards re-viewing for those who appreciate his style. [Read](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/film-week-hateful-eight)
- **Slant Magazine**, Jaime N. Christley (40/100, inferred): The film marks a clean break from cool criminals, filling the screen with vermin in a bleak, severe, and macabre snowbound Western that resembles giallo horror in its focus on cruelty, lies, and a pursuit of justice that stains even its nominal protagonists. [Read](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/the-hateful-eight/)
- **The New Yorker**, Anthony Lane (40/100, inferred): The critic views the film as a sadistic chamber piece that piles up tension only to resolve it in unmerciful carnage, mixing Agatha Christie and Sergio Leone influences with postmodern twists. It singles out Jennifer Jason Leigh’s performance, particularly one close-up, as the most convincing portrait of wickedness. [Read](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/01/04/wilder-west)
- **Vulture** (30/100, inferred): The critic contends that Tarantino’s wit and craftsmanship are tied to his sadism, calling the film perversely crabbed and nihilistic with cruelty for its own sake and excessive gore over substance, despite brilliant setup and standout performances. [Read](https://www.vulture.com/2015/12/review-the-hateful-eight-is-tarantino-unchecked.html)
- **Empire**, Ian Freer: The critic praises the shift from epic landscapes to intimate cabin tension among eight strangers, noting strong performances especially from Samuel L. Jackson and the film's political charge on race and division. It ultimately delivers big, bold, blood-soaked rewards comparable to Tarantino's best recent work. [Read](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/hateful-eight-review/)
- **Los Angeles Times**, Michael Phillips (2 stars): The critic calls the film an ultrawide bore that stretches a thin story to excessive length with showy rhetoric and tedious gags. It singles out the bloated script and self-indulgent running time as the main flaws despite the impressive 70mm roadshow presentation. [Read](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-hateful-eight-review-20151225-17-story.html)
- **The Hollywood Reporter**, Todd McCarthy: The critic describes the film as a verbose, nihilistic whodunit in which the bad guys love the sound of their own voices, praising the elaborate dialogue and cast performances while noting its confined setting and length may limit broader appeal. [Read](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/hateful-eight-film-review-849069/)
- **Total Film**, Jamie Graham: The critic calls it a superior entertainment and Tarantino's most mature outing since Jackie Brown, with novelistic pacing, political themes on race, and standout performances from Jackson, Roth and Leigh. The wide lensing and theatrical dialogue enhance the cabin-bound drama despite looser structure than Reservoir Dogs. [Read](https://www.gamesradar.com/hateful-eight-review/)
- **Collider**, Matt Goldberg (A): The critic finds the film a wonder that continues Tarantino's growth while exploring racial tensions through dark comedy and violence in a confined Western setting. The strong ensemble cast, particularly Jennifer Jason Leigh and Samuel L. Jackson, is singled out for praise. [Read](https://collider.com/the-hateful-eight-review-quentin-tarantino/)
- **Den of Geek**, David Crow (4/5): Tarantino delivers his most elaborate dialogue-driven thriller yet, blending classic Western elements with his signature tension-building in a snowy Wyoming cabin. Strong performances, particularly from Samuel L. Jackson and Jennifer Jason Leigh, elevate the lengthy but focused character piece. [Read](https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/the-hateful-eight-review/)
- **Digital Spy**, Ali Plumb (75/100, inferred): Tarantino creates his most indulgent, dialogue-heavy murder mystery yet, full of heightened performances, gorgeous 70mm visuals, and a bloody payoff. It is chatty, gory, and fun for fans but unlikely to convert detractors due to its excess and lack of emotional investment in the characters. [Read](https://www.digitalspy.com/movies/a777798/the-hateful-eight-review-quentin-tarantino-pours-you-the-most-enjoyable-bloodbath-of-the-year/)
- **The Playlist**, The Playlist Staff (B-): The critic feels conflicted about this gleefully nasty, self-indulgent chamber drama that is too long and often needlessly violent. They single out the delicious performances and the suspense that builds once the story kicks into gear for praise. [Read](https://theplaylist.net/review-quentin-tarantinos-gleefully-nasty-the-hateful-eight-with-kurt-russell-jennifer-jason-leigh-samuel-l-jackson-more-20151223/)
- **Deadline**, Pete Hammond: The critic calls the film an unabashedly enjoyable hilarious and violent Western epic, one of the best comedies of the year, with masterful scripting, gorgeous Ultra Panavision cinematography, and a first-rate ensemble cast. Walton Goggins stands out as the scene-stealing highlight among strong turns from Kurt Russell, Jennifer Jason Leigh, and Samuel L. Jackson. [Read](https://deadline.com/2015/12/the-hateful-eight-review-quentin-tarantino-western-video-1201668752/)

## Details

- **Director:** Quentin Tarantino
- **Director:** Quentin Tarantino
- **Screenplay:** Quentin Tarantino
- **Cinematography:** Robert Richardson
- **Editor:** Fred Raskin
- **Music:** Ennio Morricone
- **Production design:** Yohei Taneda
- **Costume design:** Courtney Hoffman
- **Producer:** Richard N. Gladstein, Shannon McIntosh, Stacey Sher
- **Cast:** Samuel L. Jackson as Major Marquis Warren; Kurt Russell as John 'The Hangman' Ruth; Jennifer Jason Leigh as Daisy Domergue; Walton Goggins as Sheriff Chris Mannix; Demián Bichir as Bob; Tim Roth as Oswaldo Mobray; Michael Madsen as Joe Gage; Bruce Dern as General Sandy Smithers
- **Runtime:** 3h 08m
- **Certificate (MPA):** R
- **Release (the US):** 30 December 2015
- **Genres:** Drama, Mystery, Western
- **Budget:** $44 million
- **Box office:** $156 million
- **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GRG7fAPksbg

## Where to watch in the US

- Amazon Prime Video: add-on
- Amazon Prime Video: rent $3.99, hd
- Apple TV: rent $3.99, hd
- Amazon Prime Video: buy $14.99, hd
- Apple TV: buy $14.99, hd

*Checked 2026-09-10.*

Also available in: AE, AR, AT, AU, BE, BR, CA, CL, CO, DE, DK, ES, FI, FR, GB, HK, ID, IS, IT, JP, MX, MY, NL, NO, NZ, PA, PH, PT, SE, SG, TH, TR, US, VN, ZA. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country.

## Awards

- Academy Awards 2016: Best Cinematography (nominated); Best Supporting Actress (nominated); Best Original Score (won)

## If you liked this

- *Reservoir Dogs* (1992), Fi1m 86: The same one-room game, played in under two hours and warmer. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/reservoir-dogs.md)
- *The Thing* (1982), Fi1m 88: Kurt Russell, snow, a sealed room and nobody sure who is what. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/the-thing.md)
- *The Great Silence* (1968): Corbucci’s snowbound western, with the Morricone score this one is remembering.
- *Stagecoach* (1939), Fi1m 84: Strangers thrown together on the road; the original template, and brisker. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/stagecoach.md)
- *And Then There Were None* (1945): Christie’s island whodunnit filmed with wit and without a drop wasted.

---
© 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/the-hateful-eight