Movie

The Revenant

Name: The Revenant
Released: 2015

2015 • Adventure, Drama, Western

Woke Score

out of 10

Plot

While exploring uncharted wilderness in 1823, legendary frontiersman Hugh Glass sustains injuries from a brutal bear attack. When his hunting team leaves him for dead, Glass must utilize his survival skills to find a way back home while avoiding natives on their own hunt. Grief-stricken and fueled by vengeance, Glass treks through the wintry terrain to track down John Fitzgerald, the former confidant who betrayed and abandoned him.

Overall Series Review

The Revenant is a visceral and brutal survival and revenge epic set in the unforgiving American wilderness of the 1820s. The story follows Hugh Glass, a frontiersman mauled by a bear and left for dead by his companions. His entire struggle to survive and trek back to civilization is fueled by grief and a quest for vengeance against the man who betrayed him. While the cinematography and physical performance are stunning, the film layers its core narrative with a clear commentary on colonialism, race, and spirituality. The white fur-trapping culture is depicted as rapacious, violent, and morally bankrupt, contrasting sharply with the spirituality and moral high ground of the Indigenous characters. This contrast places the film squarely within a post-colonial critique of Western expansion. It is a story focused on a man's physical and spiritual rebirth through the chaos of nature, one that finds the soul's true north outside of conventional Western or religious structures. The film contains scenes of intense violence and adult themes, including a depiction of sexual violence.

Categorical Breakdown

Identity Politics8/10

The plot is heavily structured around racial and colonial dynamics. The protagonist, a white man, has an Indigenous Pawnee son who is murdered, providing the central motivation for the revenge quest. White American characters are largely depicted as greedy, treacherous, or genocidal fur-trappers, contrasted with the dignified and morally complex Indigenous people who are portrayed as either victims or figures of spiritual wisdom. The movie includes an unambiguous line from the protagonist warning his mixed-race son that white Americans only see the color of his face, not his voice, clearly centering racial injustice as a core theme.

Oikophobia8/10

The narrative fundamentally frames the Western American trapper culture as corrupt, greedy, and destructive, operating from a mindset of pillage and exploitation. The antagonist, John Fitzgerald, embodies this malice and callousness. Indigenous groups are shown in a positive 'Noble Savage' light, being more attuned to nature, and are sometimes depicted as agents of cosmic or spiritual justice, which aligns with the trope of elevating the 'Other' over one's own civilization.

Feminism2/10

The film focuses almost entirely on the survival, violence, and masculine relationships between men, aligning with historical period authenticity for a story about frontiersmen. Female characters, including the protagonist's Pawnee wife (seen in visions) and the captive Arikara woman, exist primarily as victims or as catalysts for the male characters' motivations and emotional arcs. There are no 'Girl Boss' or 'Mary Sue' tropes present, and the message emphasizes a traditional, protective view of fatherhood.

LGBTQ+1/10

The story is a stark, historical survival and revenge narrative. The central relationships and focus are on traditional male roles, fatherhood, and a heterosexual family unit (though tragically broken). There is no centering of alternative sexualities, deconstruction of the nuclear family, or insertion of explicit gender ideology within the plot. The setting and era are firmly rooted in a normative structure.

Anti-Theism7/10

Christianity is primarily invoked by the villain, Fitzgerald, who uses religious language, such as the 'last sacrament' and references to God, to rationalize his selfishness and cruelty, effectively vilifying the faith through its corrupt practitioner. The protagonist’s spiritual quest and healing are aligned with nature and Indigenous traditions. A key spiritual vision takes place in a crumbling, ruined stone church featuring a crucified Christ, visually suggesting the collapse or inadequacy of the traditional Western faith as a source of moral guidance or solace in the wilderness.