Welcome back to Movie Recap. Today I'm gonna show you a 2015 Canadian war drama film called,
Hyena Road. Spoiler's ahead. Sit back, relax and enjoy the video.
The film begins with a group of soldiers scouting an area called Hyena Road.
There, they spot a Middle Eastern man carrying a bombshell to the side of a mountain. Because of
the danger he poses, the soldiers immediately fire at him, killing the man on the spot.
As the soldiers wait for their ride back to the base, one of the soldiers, Ryan,
notices some black patches on the road. Suspicious about the patches, Ryan requests for the convoy to
stop at their tracks. He also requests the sniper to fire at each of the black spots.
The first two patches are just patches, but when the sniper hits the third one, it explodes.
As the patch is revealed to be a landmine, enemies start to appear seemingly out of nowhere.
Because of this, the soldiers have to escape the place by other means.
While escaping, the soldiers notice a small village in the desert. As they go inside and
carefully inspect the whole village for enemies, they encounter an elder who just nonchalantly
throws a grenade away. Ryan communicates this back to the base, telling them that they are
looking at an elder with crazy eyes : one that is blue and one that is brown. The captain,
Pete, asks again to reconfirm this, and Ryan does so. The elder is inviting them inside a house,
and Ryan, trusting the elder, tells his fellow soldiers to move in.
Inside, the soldiers check their equipment and reload their guns. However,
children suddenly enter the room with plates of food in their hands, confusing the soldiers.
The soldiers, along with the elder, wait for something to happen while they are there. Sure
enough, an explosion occurs by the side of the elder, providing the enemy a passageway.
The elder goes outside, and the soldiers, thinking this is their last stand,
are telling each other their goodbyes. However, the elder returns inside,
and the enemy is miraculously nowhere to be found. As the soldiers leave the place, they
are still confused about what happened to them. Meanwhile, Pete goes outside and has a smoke.
In the next scene, the General is discussing the creation of Hyena Road in front of Bashir
Daoud Khan, also known as BDK, and his son. BDK is a powerful person who has his own militia.
The General hopes that BDK will support the creation of Hyena Road because the road is
vital in creating a pathway to the heart of the T@lib@n forces. At first, BDK refuses,
but he and his son later accept to support them. They then end the meeting with a handshake.
After the meeting, Pete and a woman soldier are discussing the shady appearance of BDK.
Pete then informs her that he is leaving to go to Sper.
While going there, Pete narrates that Alexander the Great once tried to conquer Afghanistan.
He then tells the audience an anecdote about Alexander the Great's mother writing to her
son about how he cannot conquer Afghanistan, and Alexander gifts her a bag of soil from the place.
After a while, the mother realizes that even the dirt is hostile,
now understanding why her son is failing to do it. After the story, Pete reaches Sper.
In Sper, Ryan approaches Jen who is eating alone.
They are secretly lovers. Pete approaches Ryan from another table and introduces
himself to Ryan. He then asks if he can talk to Ryan outside for a bit, and Ryan accepts.
Outside the tent, Pete tells Ryan that he is listening during their confrontation with the
T@lib@n earlier. He then tells Ryan that he knows something is going on with him and Jen,
but instead of reprimanding him, he congratulates him. After this,
Pete tells Ryan that what the elder did back then for his group is an old tribal custom.
He then asks Ryan to help him identify this crazy-eyed elder.
That night, Ryan and Jen are talking to each other. Jen suddenly informs Ryan that
while they are perfect for each other, they must stop what they are doing for
now because it might hinder their military careers. Ryan wholeheartedly accepts this.
The following day, a soldier is briefing a journalist about the do's and don'ts when
accompanying the soldiers, like staring intently at the women of the region.
In the next scene, Pete and Ryan, along with a translator, are talking to an elder person from
the same village. They ask for the other elder, but the elder tells them that he is the only
elder there. The elder then tells them that the person they are looking for is a ghost,
informing them that he might be living in Kandahar City.
After the meeting with the elder, Pete immediately heads to his informant, Haji,
also known as the Cleaner. Haji confirms to Pete that the ghost has indeed returned
and that his uncle has arranged for them to meet tomorrow.
Afterwards, Ryan informs his group that he is going somewhere tomorrow. However, he shares bad
news: two unknown soldiers have been captured by the T@lib@n. This sends one of his fellow
soldiers to fits of rage because there is nothing worse than being captured alive by the T@lib@n.
The following day, Pete and Ryan, along with other soldiers,
wait in the middle of the desert before moving out. While they are there,
Pete asks the translator to turn up the music. Due to the music, all of them dance as if there
is no trouble whatsoever. After that wholesome moment, the convoy begins to move toward Kandahar.
Before reaching their destination, Pete discreetly drops off The Cleaner.
Pete explains to Ryan that Haji is one of the bravest and trustworthy men he knows.
They finally reach their destination wherein Pete, Ryan, and the translator
enter a house. There, they finally meet with the elder that they are looking for.
After the formal introduction, Pete hands the elder a few sums of money as a reward
for helping Ryan back in the village, but the elder does not take it because he thinks it
is foolish to receive money without knowing what it is really for. Pete then tells him
about the supposed Lion of the Desert , a legendary warrior, who has now come back.
Afterwards, Pete gives the elder a calling card so
that the elder can contact him if he has news about the legendary warrior.
After the elder leaves, Pete then tells Ryan that the elder is, in fact, the Lion of the Desert.
As they are heading to their cars, Pete tells Ryan why this warrior is also
called Ghost . He tells him that during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan,
the Soviets cannot seem to kill this warrior despite multiple wounds and injuries.
Driving away from the house, Pete tells Ryan that the elder can be a valuable ally for them because
the T@lib@n seem to respect him. However, the car explodes. Luckily, all of them inside is safe,
but Pete needs to destroy the radio so that it does not fall on enemy hands.
Together, the three maneuvers in the streets while enemies flock the rooftops of houses.
After successfully fending off some enemies while moving, the three reencounters the Cleaner who
is driving a truck. They immediately hop right on the back of the truck,
with Haji saying that as soon as he has heard gunfire sounds, he immediately looks for them.
Now back in the base, the two talk about the crazy near-death encounter they just had.
Pete then offers Ryan his cynical view of what is going to happen to Afghanistan.
But Ryan is optimistic, believing that even a single bullet can change everything.
With that, they conclude their conversation.
In the next scene, Pete talks to Haji once again. Pete is confused as to why Ghost agreed to meet
with them only to say nothing. He then instructs Haji to find out the importance of that village,
of who lives there. The Cleaner immediately accepts the job.
Afterwards, Pete also asks his fellow soldier about some events in the village.
After managing to know the information, Haji calls Pete to tell him that BDK
owns the land where the village is located. Pete then instructs Haji to come to Sper.
In the next scene, Jen consults a doctor about having no menstruation for six months. The doctor
then shows her that there is already a living being inside her, which means she is pregnant.
Immediately, The Cleaner arrives at Sper. There, Pete, Ryan, and Haji talk about the
village land as actually BDK's property. Pete then tells Ryan that BDK leases off his land to
farmers who cannot pay on time. One such farmer cannot pay, and this farmer is Ghost's son.
So the reason why Ghost returned is to protect his family's honor. Ryan then tells Pete
that he has snipers around the area who can watch the comings and goings in the region.
Just like that, we now see Ryan's men preparing their equipment and weapons.
We also see their deployment in the early hours of the following morning.
The soldiers take their position in the mountains near the village where they can get a clear view
of what is happening through their scope. At first, nothing of importance is happening.
Suddenly, BDK's convoy arrives at the gate of the village. There, they immediately kidnap
the Ghost's granddaughters. The sniper requests for swift retaliation against the kidnappers,
but Pete tells them to not shoot if there are no guns present. The sniper is having a hard time
fighting his conscience. But in the end, he does not pull the trigger, much to his disappointment.
Due to what happened, Ryan storms out of the communication room. Jen follows him, telling
him that they are just following both the chain of command and rules of engagement. Jen wants to talk
more, but Ryan shuts her down immediately to argue with Pete, who has just got out of the facility.
Pete tells him that the kids might be sold so that they can have the money that BDK wants. He also
tells Ryan that they did not intervene because BDK is actually an important asset for them.
They meet with The Cleaner, who tells them that Ghost will have his revenge following
an old tribal custom. Pete then tells Ryan about Ghost and BDK's history of bad blood which stemmed
from when they were part of the army against the Soviets. So, Pete believes that BDK must be killed
because he is evil, but only Ghost can do it so that it will look like a personal agenda rather
than a political one. Furthermore, he tells Ryan that they will meet with Ghost in a safe house.
In the next scene, Ghost receives a call that angers and saddens him. The scene then jumps to
BDK's son, who is leaving a barbershop when he suddenly gets abducted by unknown men.
They then deliver BDK's son in front of Ghost. Afterwards, BDK receives a similar saddening call.
The scene then jumps back to Ryan, who is meeting with Jen in her room. Inside the room,
Jen shows Ryan the ultrasound of their baby. Ryan tells Jen that it's the most beautiful
thing he has ever seen. Jen then asks Ryan if he wants it,
and Ryan answers that he does. Jen cries because she thought Ryan will not take responsibility.
Meanwhile, Pete meets up with the General to discuss BDK's involvement with the T@lib@n,
telling him that the reason why Hyena Road is taking a long time to construct
is that BDK profits from the constant disruption that happens in the region.
Furthermore, Pete tells him that he intends to make Ghost their ally,
and the General accepts because he hates BDK.
Soon after, Pete and the Cleaner meet up with Ghost in the safe house.
Meanwhile, Ryan briefs his men about the safe house and the measures they
will take in the likely event of Ghost and BDK meeting up.
Inside the safe house, Pete discusses the recent event of a kidnapping.
He also tells Ghost that he is giving him money as a gift and that he wants him to be at the
opening ceremony of Hyena Road. Ghost, still maintaining that he is not anyone important,
tells them that he is just a simple grape farmer, but Pete insists for him to come. So,
Ghost asks Pete who will be there, and Pete replies that BDK will also be there. Ghost's
eyes widen with what he has just heard. After telling them that he knows BDK since he was young,
Ghost tells them it will be an honor to attend the opening. Just like that, their meeting is over.
That night, Ryan meets up with Jen in a secluded place. There,
Ryan tells Jen that if they get out of there, he wants to get married to her,
and Jen happily accepts his proposal. They share a passionate and longing kiss.
Jen then tells Ryan to be careful with the upcoming mission, and Ryan promises to be careful.
The following day, the General and his convoy head to the opening ceremony. On the other hand,
Ryan and his men place themselves in the mountain that can see both the safe house and the ceremony.
This is done so that they can still see if ever BDK goes to either the safe house or the ceremony.
After waiting a short while, they finally see BDK's convoy on the road.
The convoy, instead of going to the ceremony, heads toward the safe house. Because of this,
Pete calls a department and requests to hack the calls in the region so that they can listen
to their conversation. After failing the first time, the department manages to hack BDK's phone.
After BDK reaches the place, Ghost immediately goes out to confront him.
With a translator on their facility, Pete and the others listen intently to their conversation. At
first, Ghost accuses BDK, a former student of his, of disrespecting him, and BDK
answers that Ghost's son fails to pay the rent for the land. After Ghost gives BDK the money,
Ghost asks for his granddaughters back, and BDK demands the same for his son.
Ghost returns BDK's son, but only his head.
BDK mourns and is about to shoot Ghost, but Ryan wants to fire at him, which he can because BDK
has a weapon. After Pete's repeated plea not to shoot, Ryan fires anyway, instantly killing BDK.
As the group leaves their position, Pete reprimands Ryan for shooting despite his order,
saying that Ryan intervened with Ghost's honorable death.
The group moves to the village where they see Ghost.
There, the group encounters multiple enemies. The group,
along with Ghost, struggle to escape the enemies, and so they get stuck in a house.
Realizing that this is their last stand, Ryan calls for an artillery strike on their locations.
Hearing this, Jen cries out to Ryan to dismiss the request, but Ryan insists.
While waiting for their imminent death, Ryan tells Ghost that he is going to be a father. Ryan then
apologizes to Jen. Soon after, the artillery strike decimates the area, killing them all.
The film then jumps to soldiers raiding a house that is full of children.
There, they rescue Ghost's granddaughters.
The film ends with a funeral ceremony for the recently killed soldiers, with Pete,
Jen, and the General in the audience. On the other hand,
Ghost's son also visits a grave with his daughters.