Hostiles

This otherwise typically macho, violent Western offers strong performances and occasionally good dialogue; its most interesting aspect is how it depicts PTSD on the frontier. Because Hostiles was made in 2017, not 1957, you might guess even before the movie starts that the title applies to, essentially, every character in the film. And you'd be right. There's a whole lot of hate to go around, an endless stream of vengeance and frontier derangement that either robs people of their humanity or untethers them from the social conventions that gave them any appearance of civility. This Old West road movie takes characters with dyed-in-the-wool reasons to hate "the other" and, by subjecting them to the same traumatic journey together, peels away their differences. As you'd expect. The violence is at once unnecessary and not enough; there's quite a lot of it -- and quite a variety of it -- but it lacks the emotional impact that would have made it a key component to the film's apparent good intentions. But the acting is strong throughout, with Pike delivering some raw moments, Studi and Adam Beach (as his son) solid, and character actors like Bill Camp, Ben Foster, and Peter Mullan good in small roles and cameos. 

The most original thing about Hostiles is its rare depiction of PTSD in the Old West. Tommy Lee Jones' underrated The Homesman handled the topic with sensitivity and power. Here, Bale and his lieutenant (Rory Cochrane) play soldiers who've been at it too long, seen too much, and done too many things they can't really justify. When one confesses he's got "the melancholia," it's dismissed out of hand -- just as the idea that war and a life of violence can cause injuries that can't be seen wasn't widely accepted until fairly recently. As Blocker, Yellow Hawk, and Rosalie share dangers and develop trust, the film's theme of how a traumatic existence can change people -- and yet the good in them might still prevail -- becomes clear. There's nothing revelatory about Hostiles, and it's not exactly a thriller, but the acting and the look at PTSD all but justify the violence and sometimes heavy-handed direction.