Hostiles is a 2017 American Western drama film written and directed by Scott Cooper, based on a story by Donald E. Stewart.

It stars Christian Bale, Rosamund Pike, Wes Studi, and Ben Foster; Stephen Lang, Jesse Plemons, Rory Cochrane, Adam Beach, Q'orianka Kilcher, Jonathan Majors, and Timothée Chalamet appear in supporting roles.

It follows a U.S. Army cavalry officer in 1892 who must escort a Cheyenne war chief and his family back to their home in Montana.

In the New Mexico Territory in 1892, settler Rosalee Quaid and her family are attacked by a Comanche war party, who kill her husband and three children.

At Fort Berringer, soon-to-retire U.S. Army Captain Joseph Blocker is ordered by President Harrison to escort the cancer-stricken Cheyenne war chief Yellow Hawk and four members of his family back to their tribal lands in Montana.

Blocker initially refuses, as Yellow Hawk and he are old enemies from the Great Sioux War of 1876, but accepts under the threat of court-martial and loss of his pension.

Blocker sets out for Montana accompanied by his old friend, First Sergeant Thomas Metz, long-time aide Corporal Woodson, West Point newcomer Lieutenant Kidder, and a young private, Dejardin.

Blocker is asked to bring disgraced Sergeant Philip Wills to be hanged for having deserted from Fort Pierce and murdered a Native family.

The next night, Metz walks into a downpour and begins to express guilt for his past actions against the Natives, leaving Blocker concerned.

The website's critical consensus reads, "Hostiles benefits from stunning visuals and a solid central performance from Christian Bale, both of which help elevate its uneven story.

"[17] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 65 out of 100, based on 41 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

[20] William Bibbiani of IGN said that writer/director Scott Cooper wasted the talent of its actors and cinematographer in a "by-the-numbers storyline with a rather obvious message about how it's harder to be despicable to people after you get to know them".

He went on to say, "Scott Cooper directs Hostiles with an eye for 'greatness', but the actual material simply isn't deep enough to justify the solemn presentation.

[22] Writing in The Atlantic, David Sims noted the film's "majestic photography", calling it "a handsome-looking Western", but faulted the script for "seem[ing] less interested in character development" and was critical of the "harsh and uncompromising" tone of the film, describing its opening scenes as "gory, tough to watch, and short on dialogue, with Cooper intent on showing a world severely lacking in empathy.