Scorched Earth 2018

In the not-so-distant future, the world is reshaped by brutal climate upheaval called the Cloud Fall, where pollution and relentless mining have made large swaths of the Earth nearly unlivable. Water—delivered through purifiers known as tabs—and the precious metal silver, ground into the inside of breathing masks, become the era’s currency. Driving fossil-fueled vehicles is outlawed, and bounty hunting has flourished as people hunt for these scarce resources, often meeting grim endings as rewards are claimed dead or alive. Against this harsh backdrop, a formidable bounty hunter named Attica Gage, Gina Carano, moves with a relentless efficiency through a landscape of dust, ruins, and shifting loyalties.

Gage’s latest target is tied to a broader upheaval: a follower named Womack, aligned with the outlaw Chavo, is tracked, interrogated, and broken. After a brutal confrontation, she leaves Womack in the wilderness and closes in on Chavo, engaging in a savage fight that ends with Chavo’s capture or death and the freeing of several pilgrims who had fallen under his control. Among those saved is Beatrice, a survivor who becomes a key ally in the days to come. Gage returns the body of the outlaw to Sheriff Grubbs, a lawman in New Montana who is as greedy as he is corrupt, hoping to claim a handsome reward for the takedown. The moment also brings Gage to Doc, John Hannah, her longtime mentor and confidant, who shares a vision of a much larger score on the horizon.

In Doc’s study, the two discuss a legendary reward for Thomas Jackson, an exceptionally resourceful outlaw who is building a so-called shelter-town for criminals—Defiance. The promise of a fortified enclave draws Gage’s interest, and she resolves to take down Jackson on her own terms. Doc cautions her that every bounty hunter who has tried this route before has paid with their life, but Gage’s resolve does not waver. The idea of dismantling Defiance grows not only as a personal mission but as a way to disrupt a town that has exploited the region’s desperation for its own gain.

To gain entry to Defiance, Gage adopts the persona of the very figure she hunted, Chavo, slipping past the town’s defenses through wit and nerve. Inside, she earns a wary welcome from Jackson’s right-hand man, Lear, Dean S. Jagger, who cannot fully trust his new associate but cannot prove her true identity either. As Gage proves her mettle, she saves Jackson’s life during a pressure-filled moment when Sheriff Grubbs and a posse intrude on Defiance to seize the threat. Jackson, impressed—and perhaps a little unsettled by her prowess—offers Gage a place in his plans: a brutal partnership that would put her in charge of enforcing his rule over the region, including the harsh labor of the silver mines. He also reveals a personal vulnerability: a scar on his forearm that is tied to a dark chapter from his past—the same scar tied to the past actions of Gage’s sister—an revelation delivered with a chilling sense of inevitability.

With her cover secured, Gage becomes entwined in Defiance’s grim machinery as the town’s caravans push out to capture pilgrims, including Beatrice. Beatrice, who has been saved once before, warns the others to stay quiet and to keep patience, but the moment also exposes the town’s appetite for control and profit. Gage, having already learned the truth about Melena, Jackson’s girlfriend, discovers that Melena has betrayed her, leaking information that undermines her position. The betrayal comes at a high cost, as Womack—now infected with Black Lung, a deadly respiratory illness—claims Gage’s capture. The ensuing torture is brutal, and Womack drives Gage into the wilderness, leaving her for dead in a gorge. Against staggering odds, Gage survives and staggers back toward New Montana, only to confront a severe case of Black Lung herself.

Doc helps nurse her back to health, and the plan to dismantle Jackson and the Defiance project reignites with renewed determination. The two work together to liberate Beatrice and other captives from the silver mines, sparking a larger conflict that pits Gage against an entire town. In the ensuing clash, Gage delivers a devastating blow to Lear, and a late-act reprieve comes when Melena, who has begun to question the price of her loyalty, turns on Jackson and helps to ground the escalating violence. The tide shifts as Gage pursues Jackson to the mining sites, where a brutal duel ends with Jackson trapped in an explosion—left to die amid the chaos of dynamite and collapsing tunnels.

Returning to Defiance’s gates, Gage and Doc confront the wreckage of Jackson’s regime. They battle through the town’s guards and lift Beatrice and the other captives from their confinement, tearing down the façade of Defiance as a utopia for outlaws and replacing it with the truth of a town built on fear and exploitation. Lear is finally neutralized, and the town’s gruesome display—its corpses hanging at the entrance—loses its power in the face of a determined resistance. With the town shaken, Gage carries Doc back to New Montana on a makeshift stretcher, their alliance forged in fire and grief, a promise to continue challenging the forces that thrive on scarcity and fear.

Throughout the ordeal, the weathered terrain—dust-swept plains, battered towns, and grim mining shafts—serves as a constant reminder of what the Cloud Fall has done to humanity: it has forced people to barter for life itself, and it has driven some to become both predator and protector. In this world, Attica Gage is defined not only by her skill with weapons and her unyielding will but by the core choice she makes again and again: to stand with the vulnerable, to challenge the corrupt, and to risk everything to free those who have been reduced to mere numbers in a ledger of tabs and silver. The ending is bitter and hopeful at once—Gage and Doc survive the battle, the town loses its grip on power, and the road ahead remains perilous, yet the possibility of reclaiming one’s humanity remains a stubborn beacon in an environment designed to erase it.