This problem is somewhat similar to the profundity issue, and is another symptom of Alejandro Innarritu's belief in the intrinsic narrative value of Glass's suffering. Watching The Revenant, the most frequent feeling is a mix of terror and alarm, prompted primarily by the acts of violence occurring on-screen. If there is any genuine empathy and sympathy to be felt, it's buried under gut reactions and stifled by the refusal to give audiences much time to genuinely get invested. At the beginning of the film we witness the violent deaths of dozens of characters, none of whom we know anything about, which sort of sets the emotional tone. We're presented with Leonardo DiCaprio and a boy who is described as his son, but we aren't entirely sure whether or not that's biological or adoptive. By the time we learn the truth it's of very little consequence. The fact of the matter is that audiences don't see enough of the relationship between Glass and his son to truly care. What little they do witness is basically Glass telling Hawk to shut his mouth or someone will murder him. When Hawk is killed by Fitzgerald, then, there's a certain numbness of feeling that has nothing to do with the cold setting. Glass is given Insta-Motivation (just add child homicide!) and Hawk is quickly forgotten about. The same goes for Glass's wife. There is no time spared on any sort of coherent relationship establishment instead we're provided with ghostly apparitions and fleeting flashbacks, which while giving us information provide nothing in the way of actual emotion.
