Genre: Thriller/War
Director: Andrew Dominik
Writer: John Malone
Based on the novel by James Dickey
Cast: Alden Ehrenreich, Cameron Monaghan, Garrett Dillahunt
Plot: Tinian Island - March 8, 1945
A colonel (Garrett Dillahunt) gives a speech to a crowd of khaki-clad airmen. He explains that after tonight they're done using ammo and gunners, that now is the time to go all-in on bombs. Tonight, they'll stick with frags and ammo, with the target being Tokyo. Sitting front and center is Muldrow (Alden Ehrenreich).
Muldrow cleans the gunner bubble of a B-29 bomber. He lowers an ammo belt into a feed box, snaps the tail guns together, tapes a parachute down to the side of the airplane near the bulkhead. He tapes a sharpened bread knife to his side underneath his flight suit. Later, Muldow lies in his bunk, fully clothed in his flight gear. He approached by another airman, Red (Cameron Monaghan), who asks him how many kills he has. Muldrow tells him seven. Red introduces himself and tells Muldrow that he's been assigned to his flight crew, and tells him it's an honor to fly with him. Red asks Muldrow for advice. Muldrow tells him to not waste his ammo, make every round count, and just get up there and do what you know.
That night, a squadron of B-29 bombers fly in tight formation. Muldrow begins to fire into the darkness, destroying an obscured enemy plane with a huge explosion. The plane is rocked with a barrage of small explosions as anti-aircraft fire speeds at them from the ground. The twelve droning B-29's open their bomb-bay doors as the docks of Tokyo become visible immediately ahead. The bombs drop dead away. Muldrow watches as the bombs land. A split second later the cabin is rocked by enormous boom. The plane starts to plummet down. Muldrow makes is way to his parachute, wrestling it onto his back. Half of the cockpit has been blown away. Muldrow manages to escape the plane into the night air in a vortex of debris. He parachutes down toward the fires of Tokyo.
Muldrow as boy rides a dog sled through the Alaskan wilderness. He steps off the sled and goes to a frozen carcass of a beaver. Muldrow removes it from the trap that killed it, resets the trap, and takes the beaver to the sled. With the click of a tongue, he mushes the dogs forward over a frozen river. Suddenly the line harness snaps and the sled stops. Muldrow inspects the harness, finding a strap that has frayed in half. He pulls a length of rawhide line out from the back of the sled and starts tying it. Before he can finish the line is whipped out of his hands as two dogs in the middle have started fighting, with a third do soon joining in. Muldrow grabs a whip from the sled and slaps the dogs apart to restore order. He tries to tie the line, but his hands are now too cold and his mittens were lost while dealing with the dogs. He tries to start a fire with a set of flints, but his hands continue to not cooperate. He cuts free one of the dogs and wrestles it to the ground. The dog tries to bite into Muldrow's arm, but Muldrow takes out his knife and plunges it into the dog's throat. He rolls the dog onto its side, cuts open its belly, and sticks his frozen hands into the dog's belly. Later, he sits in front of a fire.
Muldrow's parachute is gets caught on the gantry of a crane at the docks of the Tokyo harbor. Muldrow grabs his line and starts climbing up. At the top, Muldrow gathers his chute. Below him he sees two Japanese soldiers. An American airman hauls himself out of the water, only to met by the Japanese soldiers who begin beating him to death. Muldrow climbs down toward the crane cab. He sits down and empties his pockets to take an inventory. He has: his knife, a .45 pistol, two clips for the pistol, a small packet of fish hooks, a length of twine, a tin of rations, a chocolate bar, two flints, a compass, and a map of Japan. Muldrow traces his finger north from Tokyo, all the way to the Aleutians.
In the morning, a man enters the crane. Muldrow slits his throat. Muldrow changes into the man's clothes and puts on his straw hat. Muldrow exits the crane, reaches the crane and starts walking. When he gets to the end of the docks he notices a large drainage pipe and climbs in. He looks behind him and watches as the harbor is bombed in a mass of explosions. He exits the pipe at another mouth, giving him a view of Tokyo, burning. People run past him, away from the city. Muldrow follows the beach toward the city. A man runs right into him, his eyes widen as he looks at Muldrow, who quickly pulls out his .45 and shoots the man in the face. Muldrow pulls the body into an alleyway. Muldrow wipes soot on his face to disguise his appearance and continues to make his way through the city.
Muldrow trudges along a road on the outskirts of the city in an almost rural area. He notices that one house has a fighter plane parked in front of it. Muldrow makes his way behind a row of houses. He takes out his compass and figures out that north is pointing toward a range of hills. Muldrow has a look around, then climbs into the cockpit of the fighter plane. The controls are all in Japanese. Resigned, he hoists himself out of the cockpit.
Walking through the hills, Muldrow comes across a stream. He attaches a bit of foil of his chocolate wrapper to a fish hook that he ties to his length of twine. He uses his makeshift fishing line to catch a fish. He carefully guts and cleans it before cooking it over a fire. Suddenly, Muldrow hears rustling from the nearby brush. A gaunt dog emerges. Muldrow gives the dog the fish head and entrails, observing that the dog has a collar and tags. Muldrow crests a hill, finding a place to sleep behind a large boulder. He starts walking again in the morning. Muldrow follows a path to some kind of park or preserve where he sees an old man crouching near a pond, feeding the swans. Muldrow sneaks up on the man, grabbing him from behind and forcing his head into the water, drowning him. Moments later, Muldrow clubs several swans to death. In the caretaker's cabin, Muldrow plucks the feathers from the swans and cooks one for dinner.
In the morning, the flock of swans have returned to the pond. Muldrow walks through a grove of trees with a bag of feathers slung over his shoulder. Muldrow comes across a house at the edge of the grove. Inside the house are a blind man and a woman. The woman eventually leaves. Muldrow enters the house. The old man is eating. Muldrow searches through drawers in almost complete silence. He turns to look at the blind man, but he isn't there. Muldrow pulls out his knife and makes his way silently down the hall. One board groans under Muldrow's weight. Suddenly, the old man lunges toward the sound, swinging a sword. Muldrow stumbles back. The old man stops swinging his sword and listens. Muldrow has been cut on the shoulder. The old man explodes into motion again, slicing the air in front of him. Muldrow escapes into an open room. The old man turns and attacks again. Muldrow rolls out of the way of the sword and rises to his feet next to the old man. Muldrow has his opening and stabs the man in the neck. The woman returns, and Muldrow kills her with the sword. Muldrow pours the swan feathers into the lining of his jacket and sews it back shut. He then looks through the house for anything of use. He finds a detailed topographic map of Japan and compares it to his small map. He places himself midway up the main island from Tokyo. He notices a railroad line nearby that heads north. Muldrow takes several books from a bookshelf, tears the pages out and sets fire to them with his flints. Muldrow leaves the house, flames engulfing the house as he walks away.
Muldrow finds the railroad and sits next to the empty tracks until he hears a distant whistle. A train pulling flatcars of timber approaches. Muldrow hops onto one of the flatcars, laying between to long humps of wood. The train moves north as snow begins to fall. The train makes it to its destination and begins unloading the timber. Muldrow vaults down and treks away from the cars across the snow.
A Japanese army truck passes by Muldrow as he walks north along a road. He keeps his head down as it passes, but he can't help looking behind him. When he looks back forward, an old woman in black is in front of him. She screams and the truck stops and starts to turn around. A few soldiers hop out of the back of the truck, the truck then accelerates toward Muldrow. He sprints into an alley and tries to open house doors. Two soldiers trot toward him, shouting at him. They corner Muldrow and one swings his rifle stock up into Muldrow's face, knocking him out.
Muldrow wakes up in the back of the truck. His face is battered. His arms are tied behind his back. One of the soldiers, noticing that Muldrow is awake, stands up and kicks him a couple of times. Muldrow is taken out of the truck and forced to kneel down beside other prisoners. A Japanese officer draws a sword and begins decapitating the prisoners. Muldrow is abruptly hauled to his feet and shoved back into the truck with one soldier. Muldrow tries to break free from his ties. A soldier gets up to kick him, but Muldrow kicks him as hard as he can. There's a loud crunch, as the soldier's knee gives out. He aims his rifle at Muldrow, who kicks again, knocking him down. Muldrow stands up and begins kicking the soldier's repeatedly, as hard as he can. Muldrow manages to cut free from his ties. Muldrow grabs the soldier's rifle and aims it toward the cab of the truck. He fires and the truck breaks. The two soldiers from the cab get out to investigate. Muldrow shoots the first in the face, and then hurriedly shoots the second in the chest. Muldrow climbs into the cab. He grabs his bag, and checks to make sure his belongings are still inside. He then drives off in the truck.
Muldrow drives through morning, but hits traffic in the center of a small city. He takes out his map. It shows that he is in Morioka. He turns to continue north, but finds himself surrounded by other military vehicles in a convoy. Lacking an alternative, he drives on. The other military vehicles pull over, but Muldrow continues on.
Muldrow treks along a small gravel beach. Two men drag a small boat into the water and clamber in. After they leave, Muldrow finds a small fishing boat. He drags it into the water. Muldrow heads out to sea, paddling the boat north. The waves grow bigger and Muldrow beaches his boat.
Muldrow tracks and kills a goat, and hears a human scream. Muldrow finds a hunter being attacked by a herd of goats. Muldrow stabs at the goats. The horn of one stabs him in the leg. Muldrow manages to scare the goats off. Muldrow and the hunter stare at each other. After a long staring beat, the hunter simply turns and walks off through the snow. Muldrow sits and eats meat from the dead goat. The deep puncture in his leg is still oozing blood. He packs the wound with snow and passes out.
Muldrow awakes, finding himself being led into a village on a litter dragged by a horse. The villagers look at him curiously. The horse stops and a man helps Muldrow up and into a hut. Inside the hut are dancers celebrating something. Muldrow notices the hunter from earlier. Two bear cubs are brought in in a cage. One of the cubs is freed and quickly lassoed. A dancer shoots an arrow at the cub's chest. Other begin clubbing it.
In the morning, Muldrow wakes early and gets dressed. He encounters the hunter. Muldrow walks up to him ad plunges his knife into the man's neck. He then frees the other cub and ushers it outside. Muldrow enters the next hut in the village and silently kills the four men sleeping inside. Muldrow then walks towards the woods.
Muldrow eventually sees the sea at the end of the main island. He hears a dull crack and stumbles backward down into the snow. He has been shot in the chest. He sees men starting to materialize in the snow, walking towards him. They carry guns, they are soldiers in white winter gear. The nearest man draws a sword and cocks it high over his head. He brings the sword down with a great whoosh.
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