Hostiles - Oscar worthy in many aspects (may contain spoilers)

Emotional and tense Weston drama, set in 1892. The film opens with a quote from DH Lawrence - "The essential American soul is hard, isolate, stoic, and a killer". The film then goes straight into a violent action scene where we see a rancher and his children are murdered by a band of Comanche, the horses are led away but the (now) widow escapes. 

At this point Christian Bale's character (Capt. Blocker) is introduced, he is a legendary army captain, who has just been given a mission to escort an old Indian chief and his family back home across the desolate challenging landscape.

Blocker is initially reluctant, he has a bad history with the native Indians, and the chief who is dying of cancer is a longstanding adversary. However, the mission has come directly from the President and he is further threatened with the loss of his pension if he refuses.

Rollercoaster brutal action interspersed with quiet thoughtful set-pieces, where a lot is depicted with very few words. We soon realise that the line between good and bad are very blurred. 

I liked this film and I think you will too if you liked ...
'Hell or High Water', 
or 'Logan', 
or 'Dances with Wolves'

9/10.