The Call of the Wild (2020)

The Call of the Wild (2020) Full Recap

In the 1890s, men in the frozen north find gold, and the news spreads across the world like a fever. Thousands pack up and head for Alaska and the Yukon. Up there, there are no roads, only snow and sleds. So, the gold hunters need dogs. Big, strong dogs that can pull heavy loads through the snow.

Far away in sunny California, a giant dog named Buck lives in a big house in Santa Clara. He's part St. Bernard and part Scotch Shepherd, and he's spoiled rotten. His owner is Judge Miller, the most powerful man in town. Every morning, Buck wanders down the main street like he owns it.

He steals a man's sandwich, chases a cat under a wagon, and knocks a whole stall of fruit into the mud. A cart driver swerves to miss him and crashes into a shop window. Everyone in town calls him a menace. Oh, he's just spoiled. The judge's wife just sigh and says he means well.

Usually, Buck has no idea he's doing anything wrong. On the judge's birthday, the family throws a big garden party. Buck is told to be on his best behavior. He lasts about 5 minutes. He sneaks up to the long table of food, grabs a tablecloth, and drags the whole feast to the ground, guests and all.

The cake lands in the grass. Judge Miller points to the porch. Buck spends the night outside alone. It isn't the first night Buck has spent on the porch, and it won't be the last. Buck never did listen to anyone but his own nose. That night, a stranger walks up to the porch with a treat in his hand.

Buck follows him without a second thought. The man throws him into a cart and sells him for a fistful of cash. Buck is stuffed into a wooden crate and loaded onto a train heading north. Locked in that box, Buck can't eat, drink, or sleep. He has no idea where he is or where he's going.

When the crate opens, a man in a red sweater is waiting with a club. Buck charges at him and the man strikes him down. Buck charges again. He gets hit again and again. It's the law of club and fang, the man says. Buck stays down this time. Beaten but not broken. Weeks later, the ship docks in Skagway, Alaska.

Every gold hunter heading for the Yukon passes through this muddy little town. Buck steps off the boat onto something cold and white snow. He sniffs it, snaps at it, and jumps back when it sticks to his nose. Come on now, buddy. California is very far away now. An old man in a black hat pushes through the crowd.

His name is John Thornton, and he's just signed away his house to the wife he left behind. He isn't here for gold. As he walks off, a harmonica falls out of his pocket. Buck picks it up and trots after him. Thornton takes it back and pats his head. "You're a fast one," he says. Then they go their separate ways.

Buck is sold to Perau, a cheerful male carrier, and his partner, Franis. They carry the mail across 500 m of frozen wilderness. Franuis thinks Buck is far too big for a sled dog. Too big. He'll never make it. Perau believes in him anyway. Buck meets the team, Dolly, Pike, Joe, Billy, Dub, Dave, and Solix.

Last comes Spits the husky at the front with pale blue eyes. He growls at Buck the second they meet. On the first run, Buck doesn't have a clue. He runs the wrong way, tangles the lines, and drags the whole team into the snow. Spits, snaps at him. Francois laughs and says the dog is broken.

He's not broken. Pero says he's just got California feet. That night, Buck feels a cold he's never known. He tries to sleep inside the warm tent and Perau throws him right back out. Buck wanders the camp and can't find the other dogs anywhere. Then he sees them. They're buried under the snow.

Curled up and warm. Buck digs his own hole and falls asleep. Slowly, Buck gets the hang of it. He copies the dogs around him, even spits, and throws his whole weight into the harness. His paws toughen up and he stops falling over in the snow. One afternoon, the team stops at a frozen stream, and the dogs lick at the ice, too thirsty to wait.

Buck stands up on his back legs and slams his front paws down. The ice cracks open and the whole team gets to drink. The other dogs look at him differently after that. Even Spitz notices. Back in California, Buck never had a job. Out here, he has one, and he's good at it. He's part of a pack now.

One day, they cross a frozen lake. The ice cracks and Francois falls straight through into the black water. Before anyone can move, Buck breaks free of his harness and jumps in after her. He grabs her and fights his way back to the surface. Pero drags them both out. Franuis is shaking, but she's alive.

Pero hugs Buck and he's in tears. Crying for a dog. At the fire that night, Franuis tells Buck something about Pero. Pero has hauled mail for years and he's never been on time, not once. He still drives every single day like today's the day. And he believes in Buck more than he's believed in anything.

And now Francois does, too. In the dark, Spitz watches them with cold eyes. One night, under the northern lights, Buck chases a rabbit across the snow and pins it down. Then he lets it go. Spitz leaps out of nowhere and kills it right in front of him. Then he turns on Buck. The two dogs crash into each other while the rest of the pack circles them.

Spitz is faster and he draws blood. Buck falls. Then in the shadows, he sees a giant black wolf watching him. Nobody else can see it. Buck gets back up. He slams Spitz into the snow and pins him down. Spits limps off into the dark and never comes back. The next morning, Perau searches everywhere for Spitz.

He's gone. Per puts old Solix at the front of the team. We have to go without him. But the dogs won't move. Not one step. Buck walks to the front and stands there. Pero refuses at first. Then he gives in and puts Buck in the lead. With Buck in the lead, the sled flies. Pero screams with joy as they race through the mountains faster than ever.

A herd of caribou runs alongside them across the valley. Then the snow above them breaks loose. A huge avalanche comes roaring down the slope. Buck pulls the whole team ahead of it and through an ice cave as the mountain collapses behind them. They race into town and slide up to the post office.

For the first time in his life, Perro is on time. He and Francois scream and hug each other. Per tells Buck, "We carry hope." Buck and the team sleep in a pile by the stove that night, warm for the first time in weeks. In a small cabin nearby, John Thornton writes a letter to his wife Sarah.

Their son died and Thornton couldn't find the words to talk about it, so he left. Now he's searching for a place where he might feel some peace. He's afraid there's no home for him anywhere in this world. The next morning, Thornton runs through the snow with his letter, but the male sled is already leaving.

Buck sees him and stops the whole team. Thornton recognizes him right away. Hey, Buck. He hands over the letter for his son's birthday. Then the sled takes off again. After 2,400 m in 80 days, the team arrives back. Then Perau gets a telegram. The mail route is closing. A telegraph line is coming and they don't need dog sleds anymore.

Perau kneels in front of his dogs and tells them they did nothing wrong. Then he and Francois say goodbye. Oravoir Buck. Francois turns back for one last look as they walk away down the muddy street. Buck pulls at his rope and howls after them. The other dogs huddle around him in the cold pen.

The ground has shifted under him again. Now Buck has to be the leader himself, at least until the next master comes along. A few days later, the team is sold to Hal, a rich young man in a red coat, who's sure there's a river of gold waiting for him. With him come his sister Mercedes and her husband Charles.

They pile the sled with trunks, furniture, and fancy dresses. It's far too heavy for any team. The dogs pull with all their strength, and the sled won't budge. Mercedes asks if the dogs are broken. Hal calls them lazy and tells Charles to beat them. Charles lifts a club and Mercedes screams at him to put it down.

Thornton walks over and tells Hal the runners are frozen to the ground. All he has to do is knock them loose. He warns Hal that spring is coming and the river ice will break. Hal won't listen. They'll pull your sled, Thornton says, till they die. Hal drags them deep into the wilderness far off the trail, following a fake map he bought in town.

There's barely any food left for the dogs, but Mercedes still has her trunks full of dresses. Maybe we should feed them. One by one, the dogs start to stumble. When they slow down, Hal cracks the whip. Mercedes and Charles begin to doubt him, but he won't turn back. For the first time, Buck knows more than his masters, but the whip gives him no choice.

They reach a river covered in melting ice. Buck lies down and won't move. He knows the ice won't hold. Hal pulls out a gun and aims it at Buck's head. Then, Thornton runs out of the trees and knocks Hal to the ground. Hal, he can't. He cuts Buck out of the harness and begs Hal not to take the dogs onto the ice.

Don't do this. Not to them. Hal accuses him of hiding the gold and drives the rest of the team out onto the river anyway. Thornton can only watch them disappear. Then he picks Buck up and carries him away. Thornton takes Buck back to his camp and lays him in his own bed. Buck sleeps for two whole days.

When he opens his eyes, the old man is sitting there with food. Thornton tells Buck he's free to go wherever he wants. Buck stays. One night, Thornton walks into town for a drink, and Buck follows him into the saloon. Hal is there. He lost everything. His sled went through the ice and the dogs ran away.

He blames Thornton and punches him in the face. Buck flies across the room and slams Hal to the floor. Hal yells that the dog went for his throat and should be put down right there. The whole saloon has seen what really happened. Hal reaches for the knife on his belt and the men in the room stare him down.

The bartender throws him out into the snow. Back at camp, Thornton reaches for his bottle again. Buck grabs it and runs. Thornton chases him through the snow, yelling at him to bring it back. Buck, bring that back. Buck buries it and sits on top of it. Thornton sits down and talks.

Today would have been his son's birthday. After the boy died, he and his wife grew apart and he ran away to the north. Then he pulls out an old map of the Yukon. His son loved it. One day, the boy drew a line right off the edge of it into the unknown. We could go, Thornton tells Buck, "You and me." Thornton buys a canoe and packs it with everything they'll need.

Buck takes one look at the wobbly little boat and refuses to get in. Thornton paddles away without him. A few seconds later, Buck jumps in after him. They paddle down endless rivers through the mountains. Thornton sings, "Row, Row, Row Your Boat," and asks Buck to join in. Buck doesn't.

Maybe not. When they hit the rapids, Buck goes overboard and fights his way back to the boat. At night, they camp on the riverbank under a full moon. Thornton cooks fish over the fire and tosses the best piece to Buck. He doesn't drink anymore. He just sits and watches the water with his dog beside him.

It's the first time he's looked at peace since he came north, far behind them. Hal hasn't forgotten. He's convinced the old man knows where the gold is. He spreads out a map and starts tracking them. Thornton and Buck leave the canoe and walk into the wild. "Your ancestors used to roam here," Thornton says.

When the trail splits, he lets Buck choose the way. "You leave." Buck leads him into a hidden green valley. In the middle of the valley, they find an abandoned log cabin. No one has lived there in years. Thornton patches the holes in the roof and lights a fire in the old stove. Buck claims the spot right in front of it.

Thornton chops wood in the mornings. In the afternoons, they fish. A herd of caribou wanders past the front door like the cabin isn't even there. Thornton finds gold in the river. Almost by accident, the old fairy tale about a river of gold turns out to be true, but he barely cares.

Fairy tale's true. Buck jumps into the water and chases the fish, splashing Thornton from head to toe. For the first time in years, the old man laughs. Out in the forest, Buck walks right into a huge bear fishing in a stream. The bear roars and Buck backs away slowly. Then he sees something that stops him cold.

A white wolf watching him from the trees. She circles him once and disappears into the forest. Buck stays there, staring at the spot where she stood. From then on, he comes home later every night. One day, Buck finds the wolf pack crossing a river. A young wolf is swept away by the current.

Buck jumps in after it and drags it out onto the rocks. The pack stares at him. The white wolf steps closer. Thornton notices the change in Buck. Something is pulling him into the forest, into the hunt. He's still the same dog with Thornton, but Thornton can't imagine him ever living in a house again.

He wonders if this journey is leading Buck to his destiny, or maybe it's leading him. One night, Buck comes back long after dark, Thornton is waiting for him. He sits on the porch with his rifle across his knees, staring into the dark trees. When Buck trots out of the forest, the old man lets out a long breath.

He tells Buck the world is dangerous. Buck just licks his face. On a beautiful summer day, Buck steals Thornton's hat and makes the old man chase him around the cabin. That's right, there. Then they spot the wolves on a hill. Thornton looks at Buck. Buck runs to them. Thornton watches from the hillside as Buck chases and wrestles with the pack across the open meadow.

Once Buck was spoiled and then he suffered at the hands of men. Now he's running with his own kind. Buck has traveled so far to find his home. And Thornton has traveled so far from his. Thornton takes his bag of gold to the river and pours almost all of it back into the water. He keeps just enough to buy groceries.

It's time for him to go home and try to pick up the pieces with his wife. He tells Buck he's not asking him to come. Come say bye. That night, Buck goes into the forest. He finds the white wolf and lies down beside her. Back at the cabin, Thornton is writing by the fire when the door bursts open.

The Call of the Wild (2020) Ending Explained

Hal has tracked him all the way across the wilderness. He attacks Thornton, and in the fight, a lantern smashes, setting the cabin on fire. Hal drags the old man outside and shoots him. Then he demands to know where the gold is. Thornton throws his little bag at him. Take it all. It won't change anything.

It won't bring back the dead. Hal doesn't believe a word. Deep in the forest, Buck smells the smoke. He leaves the white wolf and races back through the trees. Hal sees him coming and grabs his gun. Buck leaps over the flames and slams into him with all his weight. Hal crashes through the wall of the burning cabin and the roof comes down on top of him.

Thornton is lying in the grass outside, badly hurt. Buck runs to him and nudges his hand trying to make him get up. The old man smiles at him. He tells Buck what an adventure they've had. Buck lies down beside him and presses his head against Thornton's chest. Thornton strokes his fur one last time.

"It's okay, boy," he whispers. "You're home." The next morning, Buck walks away from the ashes of the cabin. The white wolf is waiting for him. Some say there's a place in these mountains where a new kind of wolf runs free, led by a giant dog at the head of the pack. Buck has a family now.

The white wolf runs at his side, and a litter of pups climbs all over him. That pack has nothing to fear since its leader knows wolves and men alike. Once a summer, Buck walks down to the valley and sits where the cabin used to be. He remembers an old man's hands. Then he turns and goes back up the mountain to his pack.

Buck started out as a spoiled house dog who'd never seen snow. He ended up running a wolf pack. Along the way, a broken old man learned to live again because of him. Buck didn't save Thornon by pulling sleds. He saved him by refusing to leave his side.