SOUTHERN COMFORT

In 1973, a squad of nine Louisiana Army National Guard soldiers convene in a local bayou for weekend maneuvers. New to the squad is Corporal Hardin, a cynical transfer from the Texas Army National Guard, who is disgusted with the arrogant behavior and attitudes of the men. Happily married in civilian life as a chemical engineer, Hardin wants no part of the prostitutes which PFC Spencer has arranged but otherwise gets along with the amiable Spencer. When the squad gets disoriented in remote swampland, Staff Sergeant Poole, their Vietnam War veteran squad leader, orders them to commandeer three pirogues from a campsite. A group of Cajun hunter-trappers discover the missing boats and PFC Stuckey fires blanks from his M60 machine gun at them. The Cajuns return fire with live ammunition, killing Poole and panicking the squad.

Sgt. Casper – the strict, inexperienced, and unpopular second-in-command – orders the squad to continue their "mission." Corporal Reece's live ammunition, intended for hunting, is distributed among the men. They encounter a one-armed Cajun hunter-trapper and Casper arrests him as a prisoner of war. The emotionally unstable Bowden attempts to burn the cabin, igniting a store of TNT inside and destroying a source of food, fresh water, guns, and ammunition. Hearing barking dogs, the Guardsmen assume they're about to be rescued but learn the Cajuns are now stalking them. The Guardsmen fend off attacking rottweilers, but Cribbs is killed by a lethal booby trap that's been set for them. Bowden begins to have a serious mental breakdown in the night and is restrained. When Reece tortures the one-armed Cajun, Hardin intervenes and they fight with bayonets until Reece is killed. The one-armed Cajun escapes into the swamp. Stuckey threatens to kill Hardin until Casper promises to have Hardin court-martialed. The rest of the squad mutinies against Casper in favor of Spencer's leadership. When Stuckey dies in quicksand trying to signal a passing helicopter, the two factions split up to search for him. Casper throws a homemade grenade at the Cajuns to no avail and is killed making a bayonet charge at them. Simms is also shot and killed.

Spencer, Hardin, and a now catatonic Bowden camp for the night and agree to fight for each other's survival. During the night, Bowden is abducted and found hanging dead from a rail bridge the next morning. The one-armed Cajun appears on the tracks overhead and warns Spencer and Hardin to leave the Cajuns' territory while they still can. Following the one-armed Cajun's directions, Spencer and Hardin follow a dirt road and hitch a ride with a friendly Cajun couple who take them to a pig roast at a nearby village. The three remaining hunter-trappers arrive and Hardin is chased into a shed and wounded. Spencer intervenes, firing blanks, and Hardin stabs his attacker in the groin. Spencer leads the other two Cajuns away from the injured Hardin, disabling one with the butt of his M16. The remaining Cajun is grabbed by Hardin and stabbed to death by Spencer.

Spencer and Hardin slip away unseen into the swamp as another helicopter arrives overhead. When they see a U.S. Army truck drive towards them on the dirt road, they realize they are finally safe.

The surviving soldiers face a final confrontation with their Cajun pursuers, culminating in a tense and violent resolution in a small Cajun village.

The ending brings the film’s themes of alienation and escalation full circle, as the guardsmen’s initial arrogance and misunderstanding of the locals lead to fatal consequences. The violence and chaos of the climax echo the confusion of war, leaving survivors—and viewers—questioning the true cost of their ordeal and the thin line between civilization and savagery.