Ravenous

Despite being promoted to US Army Captain for his acts of heroism during the Mexican-American War, John Boyd, in the approach to winter 1847, is nonetheless reassigned by his commanding officer, General Slauson, from San Miguel to the remote outpost of Fort Spencer located on the western side of the Sierra Nevadas, it which is primarily used as a way-station for those traversing the mountains. It operates on a skeleton crew during the off season, this season having a ragtag crew of five army personnel led by Colonel Hart, plus two local indigenous persons who "come with the fort", adult siblings George and Martha. Shortly after Boyd's arrival at Fort Spencer, a barely-alive man, F.W. Colqhoun, stumbles into their environs. After they are able to nurse him back to some health, Colqhoun tells a story of his party surviving on cannibalism on those that died of malnutrition, turning to the party leader, a U.S. Army Colonel Ives, ending up having an insatiable appetite for human flesh leading to him killing other members of the party. Colqhoun escaped from Ives, leaving only one other survivor of their party, a Mrs. MacCready, alone with Ives. Following Colqhoun's directions, Colonel Hart leads a small team to the cave where Colqhoun left Ives to rescue Mrs. MacCready, if she is still alive, and bring Colonel Ives to justice for his heinous acts. This mission begins what ends up being the cat-and-mouse game between Ives and specifically Boyd. The progress of the game and its outcome are largely affected by Boyd's own demons--which arose from the war and were the reason he was reassigned--Ives having a short term goal which has a more-sustainable long-term outcome, if there is any truth to the indigenous legend told by George, that those that eat the flesh of their enemies absorb both the strength and spirit of the consumed, and the balance between Boyd and Ives' individual instinct for survival versus their moral strength.