THE SISTERS BROTHERS
*CUT TO THE CHASE*
This spoiler was submitted by Jeremy
Oregon, 1851 - Hitmen brothers Charlie (Joaquin Phoenix) and Eli Sisters (John C. Reilly) are taking out their targets in the pitch black darkness. After a shootout that leaves their targets dead, they find that a nearby barn is on fire, and their horses perish in the blaze, forcing the brothers to walk back to town.
Charlie reports to their boss, The Commodore (Rutger Hauer). He brings Eli to a bar where they discuss their next job that the Commodore is sending them on. He wants them to find a prospector named Hermann Kermit Warm (Riz Ahmed), who has a formula for finding gold, and the Commodore wants that formula before the brothers kill Warm. Eli is more concerned about getting a replacement horse.
Warm is working down in Myrtle Creek where he is spotted by a detective named John Morris (Jake Gyllenhaal), who is also tasked with bringing in Warm. Morris documents his time observing Warm. When the two find themselves working in Wolf Creek, Warm approaches Morris and invites him to join him in a work venture that he has planned. Morris agrees to follow Warm. On their trip, the two appear to attack each other until they come to a personal understanding and start to form a genuine bond.
The brothers head on their trip toward Jacksonville with new horses through the mountains, though Eli is displeased with his replacement since the horse is rather unwell. They encounter dilemmas like Eli having a spider crawl into his mouth and cause swelling from the inside, as well as a bear that comes by and attacks the horses, but Charlie manages to kill the bear, although it wounded Eli's horse. Eli also has to deal with Charlie's drinking habit, which he picked up from their father.
After learning that Morris and Warm had already left four days earlier, the brothers continue on their journey. They stop in Mayfield, a town in California so named because of a saloon owner named Mayfield (Rebecca Root). Eli takes a saloon girl (Alison Tolman) for some company, but he instead shows her kindness and gives her an article of clothing instead of asking for sex. She is overwhelmed by his kindness and wants to leave because she knows something may happen to him. Eli then goes to look for Charlie, and the two are attacked by Mayfield's men. The brothers shoot and kill all the men and they hold Mayfield tied up. She tells them that Warm needed Morris to help in his prospecting business, and she personally sent other men of her own to go after them. Charlie orders her to open her safe, but she refuses, so they kill her and empty the safe on their own.
The brothers next arrive in San Francisco for a while, where they are impressed with how big and busy it is. They sit down in a tavern, where Eli says he wants to quit working for The Commodore. Charlie says he will just work with other men under The Commodore. He gets drunk and slaps Eli.
The next morning, Eli is taking his horse out with the intent of heading off on his own. Charlie comes by and doesn’t remember hitting Eli but allows him to strike back harder.
The brothers eventually run into Morris and Warm with hostility at first. They fight off Mayfield’s men and kill them before they get their hands on Warm. They eventually settle down and set up camp before Warm shows them what his chemical solution can do. It illuminates the gold underwater to allow those to find it, but the material is dangerously corrosive. After finding some gold, the men rest. Eli has a chat with Warm and mentions how Charlie killed their father, and it bothered Eli because Charlie is the younger brother, and Eli feels it should have been him that did the deed.
Charlie gets drunk again and takes the solution into the water. The other three men run after him, but Charlie starts pouring it out and he burns himself. Morris and Warm are also heavily burned. They make it to the morning where Charlie hands Morris a gun so that he can shoot himself in the head. Eli sits with Warm, who thinks he’s talking to Morris, and he confides his friendship in him before dying.
Eli takes Charlie to a doctor and has to have his right arm amputated. Afterwards, they are found by men sent by The Commodore. Eli manages to get rid of them all.
The brothers make it back into town with Eli’s intent on killing The Commodore. However, they return to find that The Commodore has already passed away naturally. Eli punches his corpse for good measure before leaving.
The brothers ride off away from town and go to the home of an old woman (Carol Kane). She threatens to shoot the brothers until they address her as their mother, and she recognizes her sons. She feeds the brothers and bathes Charlie, while Eli goes to relax.
