Bone Tomahawk
Director: S. Craig Zahler
Writer: S. Craig Zahler
Cast: Kurt Russell, Patrick Wilson, Matthew Fox, Richard Jenkins, Lili Simmons, Evan Jonigkeit, David Arquette, Fred Melamed, Sid Haig
Part of: /slash Christmas special
Seen on: 17.12.2015
Plot:
When a stranger, Purvis (David Arquette), stumbles into town, Sheriff Hunt (Kurt Russell) is suspicious of him, especially after a report from his backup deputy Chicory (Richard Jenkins) informs him that he saw the stranger behave weirdly just outside the city limits. When Purvis’ answers don’t satisfy Hunt, he shoots him in the leg and has Samantha (Lili Simmons), the closest thing the town has to a doctor, take care of him. The next morning, Purvis, Samantha and Depty Nick (Evan Jonigkeit) have been taken and there was a murder in town. Hunt, Chicory, educated gunslinger Brooder (Matthew Fox) and Samantha’s husband Arthur (Patrick Wilson) take up the trail to get them back.
Bone Tomahawk was openly, outrageously, unflinchingly, unwaveringly and unquestionably racist. So much so, in fact, that I’m honestly surprised that this film got made in this day and age.
[SPOILERS]
If we take a moment to set aside the racism of the film – and trust me, this is not easy – I can say that Bone Tomahawk wasn’t that bad as a film. It wasn’t exactly smart, but at least it wasn’t boring, nice to look at (and I don’t just mean Patrick Wilson) and had a good cast who got to deliver some nice bits of dialogue.
But there is the racism. And it isn’t that Brooder – who happens to be the learned man in the group – is a racist if ever there was one, even if he does get a redeeming hero death in the end, because racist or not, he is a good gay. No, the problem is much more obvious: the monsters in the film are obviously meant to be Native Americans. The one Native American, who is a “civilized”, town-living, suit-wearing, in short assimilated “good Native”, even spells it out, saying something along the lines, “you wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between us and the monstrous cave dwellers you’re setting out to hunt, but trust me there is one.” All that serves is that the line between assimilated good guys and unassimilated savages is even further set in stone.
And then we meet those monstrous cave-dwelling savages, who aren’t and yet are very much like Native Americans. They certainly have been there longer than the white people, and they have their own culture and traditions. But not only are they evil, greedy, murderous cannibals, they are actually physically different from humans making it impossible to really communicate with them. Making them inhuman.
The one advantage of so much racism slapping you in the face is that you barely notice the sexism in the film anymore (there are practically no women in it in the first place, the most important to the story is the damsel in distress. The two pregnant troglodyte women we get to see are only there to underscore how evil the monsters are – because women’s rights are only good when they can be used to show how bad the others are). But that is a small advantage indeed. Much better to stay away from the film in the first place.
Summarizing: a competently made racist propaganda movie.
kalafudra's Stuff 
[…] was this close to not watching Dragged Across Concrete. Zahler’s last film – Bone Tomahawk – was racist crap. That he then turns to make a film that is a whole lot about racism and […]
Lol this film is not racist. Is it a story set in a time when scumbags wore their racism proudly/loudly and does it have racist characters… Yes! The film itself, however, is not a racist film.
Your quote from the Professor does not exist in the movie, rather it goes: “Men like you would not distinguish them from Indians tho they’re something else entirely” as well as another quote that starts with “They’re not my kind…”
The Professor (the Native American expert that tells the group where to find the Troglodytes) is also dressed appropriately for the time (mid 1890s-early 1900s), the place he lives, and the his occupation as a professor. If the Professor was to walk in wearing the clothes of the Natives of the plains, it would just PC pandering for the sake of it.
BoneTomahawk is a period piece and Zahler is telling/showing this story in the world AS IT WAS. Zahler also does not judge his characters. He does not condone or condemn them and leaves it up to the audience as to determine whether they hate a racist like Brooder, or are able to reconcile the fact that he is just a man of his time and place.
Regarding the Troglodytes… Apart from the quotes above and the Professor’s scene (dedicated to defending itself against claims of racism), Bone Tomahawk is also a kind of “Lost Race” tale. It’s evident from the “role” the female Troglodytes play in their “tribe” that these are nothing more than movie-monsters. NO form of communal living would survive more than a single generation living like that. The Troglodytes are basically like the “mutants” from The Hills Have Eyes but they’re Native American rather than white so people are quick to pull the racist-card.
I don’t mean to sound like I did not like your review, because I really did! Just giving my two-cents here… If you’re interested (or even ever see this lol) you should look into a few videos and articles that go in depth about how Bone Tomahawk actually has a very strong Feminist theme! It’s super interesting and surprisingly VERY true as well!
I was quoting from memory, so it’s no surprise I’m not word-accurate, and it’s even harder for me to comment on this 6 years after having seen the film.
In any case, it’s always great that films can have many different interpretations, but you will not convince me that the movie itself isn’t racist and just portrays a racist world because of the very concept of the troglodytes and how they are portrayed and used in the film. And trusts me, it makes a very big difference whether you show a race of white monsters or a race of Native American monsters just because of the real world racial context.
So, I’ll stick with my opinion, also regarding the feminist themes. If they were intended, it did not work out for me.