The Hateful Eight  

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The Hateful Eight is a 2015 American Western mystery film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino. It stars Samuel L. Jackson, Kurt Russell, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Walton Goggins, Demián Bichir, Tim Roth, Michael Madsen, and Bruce Dern as eight strangers who seek refuge from a blizzard in a stagecoach stopover some time after the American Civil War.

Tarantino announced the film in November 2013. After the script leaked in January 2014, he cancelled the movie, but announced that he had changed his mind after directing a live reading of the script at the United Artists Theater in Los Angeles. Filming began on December 8, 2014 near Telluride, Colorado. Distributed by Weinstein Company, The Hateful Eight was released on December 25, 2015 in a roadshow release in 70 mm film format, to generally positive reviews from critics. It had a wide digital release on December 30, 2015. The score, composed by Ennio Morricone, was his first complete Western score in 35 years and was nominated for a Golden Globe and Academy Award, winning the former.

Contents

Plot

"Chapter One: Last Stage to Red Rock"

Some years after the Civil War, bounty hunter Major Marquis Warren, transporting the corpses of three outlaws to the town of Red Rock, Wyoming, hitches a ride on a stagecoach driven by a man named O.B. Inside is bounty hunter John Ruth, handcuffed to fugitive Daisy Domergue, whom he is escorting to Red Rock. Ruth keeps his bounties alive so he can watch them hang.

Warren shows Ruth a letter he claims is from Abraham Lincoln. When Domergue spits on it, Warren punches her, and she and Ruth fall out of the stagecoach.

"Chapter Two: Son of a Gun"

The stagecoach is approached by former Lost-Causer militiaman Chris Mannix, who claims he is travelling to Red Rock as the town's new sheriff. He persuades Ruth and Warren to let him join them, as he will be the one paying their bounties. Ruth gives Warren back his weapons and the two agree to protect each other's bounties. Mannix and Warren almost come to blows over their questionable war records.

"Chapter Three: Minnie's Haberdashery"

The group arrives at Minnie's Haberdashery, a stagecoach lodge, as a powerful blizzard approaches. Bob, a Mexican, says the owner, Minnie, is visiting her mother and left him to look after the lodge. The other lodgers are Oswaldo Mobray, who introduces himself as the Red Rock hangman; Joe Gage, a quiet cowboy going to stay with his mother; and Sanford Smithers, a former Confederate general. Ruth, suspicious of the lodgers, disarms all but Warren.

As the group eats, Mannix surmises that Warren's Lincoln letter is a forgery. Warren admits the forgery, saying the letter buys him leeway with whites, outraging Ruth. Warren, in revenge for Smithers having executed black Union soldiers at the Battle of Baton Rouge, places a gun next to him and provokes him by claiming he marched Smithers' son naked through the snow, coerced him into fellating him, and killed him. Smithers reaches for the gun but Warren shoots him first in lawful self-defense.

"Chapter Four: Domergue's Got a Secret"

While everyone is distracted by Smithers' death, someone seen only by Domergue poisons the brewing coffee. Ruth and O.B. drink the coffee, then vomit blood and collapse, while Mannix nearly drinks the coffee himself. The dying Ruth attacks Domergue, but she shoots him dead with his own gun. Warren, after disarming Domergue, holds the lodgers at gunpoint and leaves Domergue cuffed to Ruth's corpse. He is joined by Mannix, whom Warren trusts because he nearly drank the poisoned coffee.

Warren deduces that Bob is an imposter, as Minnie hates Mexicans and would not leave one in charge of the lodge, and executes him. When he threatens to execute Domergue too, Gage admits he poisoned the coffee. Warren is shot in the groin by a man hiding in the cellar. Mobray draws a concealed gun and shoots Mannix, who returns fire, wounding Mobray and forcing Gage against the wall.

"Chapter Five: The Four Passengers"

Earlier that day, Bob, Mobray, Gage, and a fourth man, Jody, arrive at Minnie's Haberdashery and kill everyone but Smithers. Jody tells Smithers they plan to ambush Ruth to rescue Domergue, Jody's sister, and his gang will spare Smithers if he keeps quiet, as an extra lodger will make the setup more believable. The bandits dispose of the bodies, hide the evidence, and conceal guns around the lodge. As Ruth's stagecoach arrives, Jody hides in the cellar.

"Last Chapter: Black Man, White Hell"

Mannix and Warren, both seriously wounded, hold Domergue, Gage, and the dying Mobray at gunpoint. They flush Jody out by threatening to kill Domergue. After Jody comes out, Warren shoots him in the head as revenge for shooting him in the groin. Domergue claims that more of her brother's men are waiting in Red Rock to kill Mannix and sack the town; if Mannix kills Warren and allows her to escape, the gang will spare him.

As Domergue and Mobray taunt Warren, he shoots Domergue in the foot, then Mobray in the leg; Mobray dies from his wounds. Gage draws a revolver hidden under a table but is shot dead by Mannix and Warren. Warren tries to shoot Domergue but is out of bullets. Mannix decides Domergue's offer is a bluff as Domergue did not stop him from drinking the poisoned coffee, but faints from his wounds. Domergue hacks off Ruth's handcuffed arm and frees herself. As she reaches for Mannix's gun, he regains consciousness and shoots her, wounding her again. Warren persuades him to hang her from the rafters in honor of Ruth. Afterwards, as the two lie dying, Mannix reads aloud Warren's forged Lincoln letter.




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