In 1828, tough-as-jerky trail master Hugh Glass (Leonardo DiCaprio) is guiding an expedition of fur traders through the wintery northern reaches of the Louisiana Purchase. Following an ambush by an Arikara raiding party, Glass has the further misfortune of winding up between a mother grizzly bear and her cubs. This results in a horrific mauling that leaves Glass on the brink of death. Ultimately, Glass' adult son Hawk (Forrest Goodluck) and two trappers agree to stay behind to bury the mortally wounded man after he expires. Unfortunately, the antsy, menacing Fitzgerald (Tom Hardy) lacks the patience to wait for cold and blood loss to take their toll. After dealing with the other men, Fitzgerald strangles Glass and dumps him in a shallow grave. Miraculously, Glass survives and thereafter sets out on an unbelievably punishing odyssey of revenge: a solitary 200-mile trek through the frozen frontier with a broken leg, torn-out throat, and other dire injuries.
The Revenant, the latest feature from the fiercely ambitious Mexican director Alejandro González Iñárritu, chronicles Glass' harrowing journey through an unforgiving landscape of hungry wildlife, outlaw frontiersmen, and an Arikara war band with their own vindictive mission. It is about as unadulterated and unglamorous as tales of vengeance come, a mud- and ice-encrusted epic about a wronged soul who seems to be animated solely by hatred. It is also an undeniably gorgeous film, modeled after Terrence Malick's works and Sergio Corbucci's similarly frigid Western The Great Silence. There's little political or thematic depth to The Revenant compared to other revenge pictures—its skepticism is just an anemic version of that explored in True Grit and Game of Thrones—but profundity isn't really necessary. Iñárritu's film is all about the distilled drama of watching as someone casts off every human motivation save survival and retribution.
The Revenant opens Friday, January 8 in wide release.
