Set in 1892 at the cusp of the Industrial Revolution, the buffalo gone, America's indigenous population vanquished and the frontier rapidly disappearing into settlements and cities, two bitter adversaries of the Indian Wars are forced into a final, unexpected encounter. Cavalry Captain Joseph Blocker (Christian Bale), a former war hero, now jailer, and Yellow Hawk (Wes Studi), a Northern Cheyenne war chief, now prisoner, are forced to partake in a hollow publicity stunt to bolster the personal and political fortunes of Blocker's commanding officer. Stuck in Fort Berringer, a miserable New Mexican prison outpost, Yellow Hawk is to be released to Blocker and returned to the Cheyenne homeland in Montana. It's a particularly cynical gambit, as Yellow Hawk is dying and upon his death, his family will be imprisoned on a reservation. A belligerent Blocker believes the Chief should die in prison and is threatened with court martial when he refuses to accompany his enemy home. The plan is set in motion and Blocker and his men and Yellow Hawk and his family become complicated traveling companions. Not long after their departure, the group happens upon Rosalee Quaid, a traumatized survivor of a Comanche massacre, and she reluctantly joins the group. Blocker, Yellow Hawk and Quaid turn into the unlikely heart of Hostiles. They are tenacious fighters who have been shaped by suffering, violence and loss and it's created in them no end of suspicion and anger. Compelled to work together to endure and survive a 1,000-mile journey of Odyssey-like proportions, they're forced to confront their preconceived notions of one another, and realize that the worst of their differences were created by forces beyond their control. Their transformation from a place of antagonism and fear to one of compassion and tolerance is a testament to the resilience of the human spirit and our capacity for change.