Genre: Western/Action
Director: Warwick Thornton
Writer: Jimmy Ellis
Cast: Mahershala Ali, Ethan Hawke, Garrett Hedlund, Bill Pullman, Ethan Embry, Hannah Murray, Norman Reedus, Josh Stewart, Oscar Jaenada, Yahya Abdul Mateen II, Paul Walter Hauser, Zahn McClarnon
Plot: Five men are sitting around a table on a moving train, the camera cuts and has a close up of all their faces looking at each other. Sheriff Johnstone (Bill Pullman), looks at all 4 other men and then begins to speak. He tells the men what he has hired them for. He wants them to protect a chest that need to get to ‘the big city’, it cannot be opened until it is given to the mayor of the city. He says that he cannot do it because he has other things going on, more important. He tells the men that no matter their past and what they have done, they will be pardoned. The men look at each other thinking that it will be simple. He adds that there is a catch, they must pass through ‘The Devil’s Passage’. Wayne Simpson (Josh Stewart) stands and shakes his head, they try to calm him down, but he slams his hand on the table, and explains the facts about The Devil’s Passage, he mentions Indians and treacherous terrain, no man has passed through and survived and out of all the things they have done together this is the craziest. Harry Holt (Mahershala Ali) sitting relaxed with a hat over his face, pipes up and says, “Not Yet.” The sheriff stands up and tells Harry that he will leave the men with him and tells him that the next stop is there’s. He walks out and into the next carriage. The camera sits outside the door, the train on the tracks is the only thing you hear, but you can see Wayne standing and yelling at Harry and pointing at the box, Harry whips out his gun and aims at him until Wayne sits down. The camera flows back into the carriage. Wyatt Sams (Norman Reedus) is using a knife to pick some food out of his teeth. He stands and walks to the carriage door and then asks if the rest of them are coming. They don’t know what he is talking about until, they hear a bang at the door, Alonzo Ariarra (Oscar Jaenada), grabs his guns as Wayne and Harry grab the box. Wayne, Harry and Wyatt all wait at the carriage door, for the station that is coming up in a couple of hundred metres. The people at the door break in and raise their guns, Alonzo fires his hand guns and kills 2 men. 3 Other men come in and he slides over the table, while shooting and hitting the men. Harry sees 4 horses at the station hitched up, as the train slows down, all 4 men jump and land on a horse each. The men ride away and head for The Devil’s Passage. We pan back to the train and Luck Marsh (Ethan Embry) is chewing a toothpick and grimacing at the distance. His sister Abigail (Hannah Murray) walks up behind him and asks what they do now.
We cut back to the gunslingers on horseback arriving at the start of The Devil’s Passage, Wayne points out the skulls hanging from spears, and feels like the men should turn around, Wyatt tells him to grow some balls. Harry leads the men in through the treacherous valley, until they come upon a campsite that seems to be abandoned, however when they look around the site, there is a dead body lying. The men become vigilante, and Alonzo points toward a corner, he hears noises. The men aim guns and around the corner comes 2 men (Ethan Hawke and Garrett Hedlund). They are startled and one of them tells them he is a lawman (Ethan Hawke), and that he is taking a violent criminal to town, and that the dead body is the criminal’s even worse brother, Duke. He tells them the criminal’s name is Bart Woodson (Garrett Hedlund). Bart makes racial slurs at Harry and Alonzo, they pull their guns back out and aim quickly at Bart’s head, but the lawman jumps in front and says he needs him alive. He asks what the men are doing at The Devils Passage. They tell him that they have important business in town and they need to take the chest in their. The lawman suggests that he tag along with the men, as they would then have more chance to make it through The Devils Passage. The Gunslingers have a quick huddle and chat, Wayne says that the more they have, the likelier to survive. Alonzo is silent and Wyatt is sceptical. However Harry thinks it’s a good idea, so he steps out from the circle and accepts the lawman’s offer. Alonzo silent, points again but this time the direction they came from, trying to sneak through is one of Luck’s men Ned Reeves (Yahya Abdul Mateen II) and a few others, Wyatt throws his knife at Ned but Ned grabs one of the other outlaws and puts him in front of himself, the knife goes straight into his head and Ned tells the 3 other men to go forward as he backs away slowly. The lawman with his handgun shoots all 3 men and the gunslingers are amazed, Wayne says that he is definitely in now. They decide to pack up quickly and leave on horseback.
Luck and Abigail set up camp with their outlaw gang. As the camp is being set up, Luck and Abigail are talking to, Austin Boone (Paul Walter Hauser). Ned sprints into the tent and tells Luck, Abigail and Austin about what he encountered, there are lawmen and gunslingers protecting the chest. Abigail says that the chest carries bonds that can make them all rich, but the question is do they go through the devil’s passage to get it. Ned acts laid back and says he will do whatever Abigail wants, Austin nods and Luck tells them to get to it then.
While riding the men start to talk, the lawman ask what Alonzo’s deal is, why he doesn’t talk. Wyatt seems to get a little offended and comes to his aid, saying he does not have a deal, he doesn’t like to speak it takes away from his focus. The lawman apologises if he offended. Harry starts asking the lawman what it is that the Woodson brothers did. Wayne asks why not just kill Bart as well then, the lawman says that he wants to see him hang. Bart yells at him and says he isn’t hanging. They decide to set up a camp until the next morning. Wyatt, Wayne, Alonzo and Harry all sit at a makeshift table, they use Wyatt’s knife to play five finger fillet. Harry remarks about how they met each other playing this game.
FLASHBACK (2 years earlier): Wyatt is sitting at a table with people surrounding him, he is laid back and stabs his knife into the table. A man steps up and takes a seat. The man and Wyatt each throw in a coin. Wyatt goes first and uses his knife as quick as anything and finishes stabbing it back in the table. The other man attempts but ends up cutting his own finger off, he Is in agony and runs away. Wyatt stands up and asks if there is anyone else wanting a go at him. A quiet man, Alonzo steps up and takes his hat off. They each throw in a coin. Wyatt goes first, same speed, lightning quick. Alonzo breathes deep, and closes his eyes, keeping his eyes closed he goes the same speed if not quicker, and slams the knife into the table, he rises and takes the money. Wyatt doesn’t like it and stands to his feet and grabs his revolver, Alonzo did it just as quick, and a man in the crowd yells out stop. Harry steps out and the two men put their guns down, they recognize the man as the fastest gun in the west. He tells them to follow him. They cut to a saloon where the 3 men are having a beer together, Harry and Wyatt are talking and Alonzo is just sitting and listening. Harry mentions a job that he has been offered he needs 3 other men to help him and he saw the hand eye coordination and the speed in which they grabbed their guns. He wants them to join him on his quest. The men ask what they get and Harry tells them money, lots and lots of money. Just then the bartender hears what they are saying and wants in. He turns his head and it is Wayne. He says that he knows a lot about the area and that they may need or want him to join them. Harry looks at him and asks if he is any good with a gun, Wayne says that he isn’t bad. Harry looks him dead in the eye and nods. They all drink and join arms. A fight in the bar starts and all the men have each other’s backs.
The men all laugh and keep playing five finger fillet. And we sweep to the next scene.
They are having trouble getting over a mountain, Harry is the first to reach the top, his head goes over but he quickly ducks again, he tells the men to quiet down and go back down the rocky mountain. The camera rises over and shows a whole Indian tribe covering a canyon. The men go slowly back down the mountain making sure not to fall or make noise, once in the clear all the men give out a sigh of relief. They start back on the horses and ride the long way through the passage. Harry is riding next to the lawman and they start conversing, Harry wants to know what he is doing here. The lawman answers and says that Bart and Duke raped and killed his wife and daughter. He wanted vengeance and found out where they were hiding out so he took them on by himself and killed one of them, now he wants to return them to town, to hang. Harry is really shook and can’t believe what he has gone through, he offers the lawman some water, lawman takes the water and has a sip before returning it to harry and thanks him. Bart makes another racial slur at Harry, the lawman hits him over the head. They are interrupted when Wyatt rides up next to them and whispers to them that they are being followed. They continue on horseback as Harry tells the rest to calm down, Wayne is panicking. Harry tells Wyatt and Alonzo to do what they do best, Wyatt nods his head and falls back in line. He speaks with Alonzo and the two take a turn, as the others ride straight. As the camera focuses on Harry, Wayne, the lawman and Bart, we can see in the background, Alonzo and Wyatt taking out some outlaws. However they come back down the mountain as quick as possible, and you see that they are being chased by Indians. The Indians begin to fire arrows at the men but they narrowly miss, Wayne starts panicking and keeps asking what they do. Wyatt and Alonzo ride past like the wind and say “RIDE!” The Gunslingers, lawman and Bart all ride like the wind and get a fair distance away from the Indians on foot. Harry turns to look over his shoulder and says to slow down, save the horses energy. As he says this his horse is suddenly arrowed in the chest and he goes tumbling over, he seethes in pain as the men are surrounded by Indians with their bows pulled. The men lower their weapons and are taken by the Indians, seemingly to their death. Ned Reeves and Austin Boone are looking down from a mountain and shake their heads, they turn around and head back down the mountain.
Ned and Austin are shown back in a tent with Abigail and Luck, they frantically tell them that the ruthless Indians have the gunslingers. Luck looks as if not caring who has them, they want that chest. Ned and Austin look at each other before Abigail yells at them saying that it means now.
Harry, Wyatt, Alonzo, Wayne, Bart and the lawman are all tied up sitting around a pole as the Indian tribe leaders speak. Wayne asks what to do but Harry shuts him up, he is trying to listen to the native tongue. He hears something he does not like and speaks up in the native tongue, to the surprise for all the gunslingers and the natives. He says (Seen by Subtitles) that there is no need for them to kill the gunslingers, today, all they are trying to do is get to the next town. The Leader of the tribe, Chief Hula (Zahn McClarnon) has none of it. He does not care and says that no man comes through their land and leaves. Harry continues and says that he understands but that for the exception of Bart are good men, Bart sees the Indians look at him and feels uncomfortable. Chief Hula still does not care. Harry then offers the Chief food for his tribe, the chief replies that they have food and that they don’t need or want help from them. As he says this gunshots are heard outside. Chief frantically tells some men of his tribe to take the kids and women away, they shall not die today. Harry pleads with him to let them help, and in turn be released. The Chief is not sure if he should trust them, as he thinks they are with the others attacking however a bullet just misses Harry’s head so he decides to let them help. He quickly unties all the men and gives their guns back. Chief Hula asks if he can trust them, and the lawman says yes. The lawman hands one of his weapons over to Bart, who is shocked, lawman tells the gunslingers to keep an eye on Bart, if he kills him he wants them to shoot him, they nod. All the men run out and find cover, other than Alonzo, he walks out eyes closed, bullets hit two Indians next to him, but just seem to miss. He raises his guns and shoots, we follow the bullet as it travels a fair distance hitting a man standing next to a calm Luck, which startles him causing his hat to fall off. He yells at Austin and Ned to get that son of a bitch. They ride in on horseback and fire at the Native Americans, causing them to drop dead. Wayne is hiding next to Harry and raises his gun with his hand shaking, and he pulls the trigger, the bullet whizzes past Alonzo’s ear and hits Ned sending him off his horse. Alonzo turns to look at Wayne, like “Really?” We cut to Bart being pinned on the ground by a knife wielding outlaw, he is struggling to fight back. The lawman sees this and leaves his shelter while firing and killing a few outlaws to grab the man off him, pull him in close and we hear, “Don’t touch him.” He pulls the trigger and the outlaw slinks down.
The outlaws and Indians are laid out across the canyon, the bullets stop whizzing, only a few Indians stand, and one being Chief Hula. He is walking to all his tribe members and prays for them. He stands and walks to Harry, before he can open his mouth he is shot from a distance and drops dead. It is Abigail, she says “Filthy Indian.” Before hiding. The rest of the Indians are massacred by Austin, Abigail and Luck. Ned is on the ground shot and squirming, an angry Bart lunges over to him and stabs him multiple times. Wyatt has the chest on his person and Luck sees this, Austin, Abigail and Luck all head down to where the gunslingers are while staying in as much cover as they can. Harry sees them moving and signals to Wyatt and Alonzo to go around the sides and ambush them. The lawman and Harry keep their sight up to see if they have a clear shot, while Alonzo and Wyatt work their way around.
Luck sees Alonzo trying to ambush them and tells Abigail to wait. Luck tells Austin to peak over the cover, which he does, Harry sees this and fires but narrowly misses. However it was enough distraction for the unseen Wyatt to shoot Austin flush in the head, but in doing so he is shot by Luck in the stomach, drops his gun and drops. For the first time we hear Alonzo speak, he yells, “NOOOOO!!!!” and runs toward his targets he jumps a few covers and lands near the Luck and Abigail. He fires but does not hit anything, and runs out of ammunition, to this he puts his guns away and grabs his knife from his sheath. He launches himself over toward them but is caught in mid-air by Abigail.
Wayne is visibly upset as is Harry, the lawman and Bart don’t seem to care. Luck and Abigail push on as does Harry and Wayne with the lawman and Bart staying back. They stay behind cover as well as possible before being barely three covers from each other. Luck and Abigail both peep their heads to see where they are, Harry fires and clips Luck’s head which has him drop. Abigail lets out a scream and repeatedly screams no. She stands and runs at Harry and Wayne, but gets only two feet before being gunned down with the rest of the bullets the men had left. A toll had been taken on the men as Harry walks over to the body of Wyatt to grab the chest. He is sorrowful as he picks up the chest and also grabs his knife and puts it in his chest pocket, to keep as a reminder. Wayne is looking over Alonzo’s body and does a little prayer. Harry walks over to him and places his hands on his shoulder before walking away toward the city. The lawman and Bart bring the horses for the men. The men stand atop the canyon and look down upon the massacre, they say that it was their job and it had to be done. They start to walk down the canyon toward the town.
The town is visible as they start to run out of water. They have a short break and have the last tinned beans and a little water. The lawman and Bart start to head off into the other direction, when Harry pulls them up and thanks them for all they did, even Bart. The lawman turns around and says, “No, Thank you, me and my brother are forever grateful.” As he says this Bart raises a gun and shoots both Wayne and Harry leaving their bodies and taking, the rest of the water with the chest. Bart looks up to his brother, calling him Duke and asks if he really knows what’s in the chest. He says they don’t have time to say now, they need to get going, and get home to ma. They quickly get on their horses but not before throwing the dead body off of the horse, Duke says, “see ya Sherriff.” Duke and Bart ride off to the right of the town and into the sunset. However coming from the left is what looks like a whole town of horses. We close in on the man leading the chase, face Sheriff Johnstone is riding and has a filthy look on his face. He looks over to the direction of where Harry and Wayne were shot. He tells the men following him to keep on the trail of the Woodson brothers. He heads over to Harry and Wayne’s direction.
We go over to the aftermath of Bart and Duke shooting Wayne and Harry. Johnstone lunges down to Harry and tells him to hold on he will take him in to town to the doctor. He points to Wayne as he wants Johnstone to save him, but Wayne is gone, blood surrounds him, Harry passes out.
A close up of Duke’s face while riding shows him opening the chest, we don’t see what is inside but Duke looks over to Bart and laughs.
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