Movie review
December 22, 2017 · 134 min · R
Woke Score
Lower is better
Breakdown
These are the editorial factors and ratings behind our score for Hostiles.
Woke representation / casting
Natural and era-appropriate for a 1892 Western: Native actors play Cheyenne roles and a Black Buffalo Soldier fits documented U.S. Army history. No race/gender swaps, forced modern quotas, or audience-visible identity signaling beyond historical accuracy.
Woke political dialogue
Occasional lines acknowledge unforgivable U.S. wrongs against Natives and push empathy/reconciliation; some reviewers flagged specific speeches as anachronistic liberal piety, though mostly tied to character arcs rather than overt lecturing.
Identity-driven story themes
Focuses on cross-racial understanding and a white protagonist’s redemption through contact with Native Americans; Native characters often described as less nuanced, making the arc feel more like personal moral growth than strong modern identity politics.
Western institutional / cultural critique
Clearly shows U.S. Army campaigns and expansion as brutal and destructive to Native peoples with explicit statements on historical guilt; stays rooted in 1892 events and individual trauma without heavy modern systemic, anti-patriarchy, or anti-conservative framing.
Review
Hostiles is a 2017 Western drama directed by Scott Cooper starring Christian Bale as a racist U.S. Army captain in 1892 ordered to escort dying Cheyenne chief Yellow Hawk and his family back to their Montana lands. The journey involves brutal violence, a traumatized white widow, and survival against outlaws and hostile tribes. The story emphasizes redemption, grief, and humanity across divides, with the captain shifting from hatred to empathy. Some dialogue explicitly calls U.S. treatment of Native Americans unforgivable and frames the arc as reconciliation relevant to modern divides.
Woke character or canon changes
Not relevant. Original story inspired by the era with no alterations to established historical figures or canon.
Anti-woke backlash and complaints
Moderate complaints from critics and viewers about it functioning as a “woke Western,” injecting contemporary guilt or anachronistic PC dialogue into a historical tale; present but not intense or dominant compared to general film critiques.
Creator track record context
Scott Cooper has publicly connected 19th-century Native history to today’s racial divides and advocated inclusion/reconciliation; other creatives show low-to-moderate liberal patterns (e.g., Stewart’s earlier political work) without strong recurring identity-driven or DEI activism.
Production
