Riding a wave of strong reviews following its world premiere at the Telluride Film Festival, Scott Cooper’s “Hostiles” got its first trailer on Tuesday, featuring Christian Bale as an Army captain drawn into a bloody conflict in the Old West. Awards buzz for Bale’s performance was strong coming out of the event, despite the film not having a distributor.
The year is 1892, and Capt. Joseph J. Blocker (Bale) agrees to escort a dying, imprisoned Cheyenne war chief named Yellow Hawk (Wes Studios), and his family back to their tribal lands so he may receive a proper burial. Along the way, they are joined by Rosalie Quaid (Rosamund Pike), a widow whose entire family was slaughtered by a band of warring Comanche, and a dangerous criminal who needs to be escorted North (Ben Foster).
Blocker just wants to get the job done so he can retire and head back east, but as the journey goes on, the distrustful group is left with no choice but to band together to survive the journey.
“Cooper has, with his splendid new film, given us yet another opportunity to help restore some of what we’ve taken,” Sasha Stone wrote in her review for TheWrap. “This latest incarnation of the great American Western finds its truth in the tangled roots of our own mythmaking.”
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In addition to directing the film, Cooper co-wrote the script with Donald E. Stewart and produced with Ken Kao and John Lesher. “Hostiles” does not yet have a distributor, but is expected to sell its rights next week at the Toronto International Film Festival.
Watch the trailer above.