Two Paragraph Review: Hostiles (2018)

There�s something about this film that I can�t quite put my finger upon. It is something elusive, barely visible and still impacting the entire experience of watching it. But, while I cannot pinpoint it, what I am certain is that it stops the film from being really impressive. Instead, it makes it linger between the average and the good categories, as something that belongs in neither one. Its story is about a late 19th century US army captain who escorts a family of native prisoners to their new home. He does this after many years of bitter US-Native fighting and crooked peace deals, now apparently nothing more than a jaded and violent officer, masterfully played by Christian Bale.

Now, why is the film lacking in such distinctive, slight and yet undeniable manner? It is not that the film features or forces some particular type of political message that would make it feel fake, even though it does tend to pile blame more towards the white settlers (no argument here from the historical perspective). The problem lies, for me, in those little cracks and fissures that appear from time to time, mostly in the script. A sappy moment here, an injection of banality there. At the same time, unlike small masterpieces of new-western like Bone Tomahawk, the film takes itself excruciatingly seriously. Thanks to this, it ends up missing the mark for me - not completely, but evidently.