Movie Review—Wind River

Theatrical release poster

by Peter J. O'Connell                           

Wind River. Released: Aug. 2017. Runtime: 107 mins. MPAA Rating: R for strong violence, a rape, disturbing images, and language. 

On a night illumined only by a full moon, a young woman runs screaming across a snowfield, leaving bloody footprints behind. So begins writer/director Taylor Sheridan's Wind River.

This scene is followed by one in which lambs, not silent but bleating, are watched by very silent predators, wolves. A stir in snow reveals that the predators are, in turn, being watched by a protector of the flock, Cory Lambert (Jeremy Renner), clad in white and merging with the snowscape. Cory is a professional tracker and expert marksman, whose job it is to shoot dangerous animals, such as those wolves, which he does. 

These two scenes provide the setting and the themes of Sheridan's thoughtful thriller. The setting is the Wind River Indian Reservation in Wyoming, a bleakly beautiful region of mountains and prairie, larger than Rhode Island, with only 14,000 residents but many, many social problems. The movie's main theme essentially is the struggle to protect people in vulnerable situations from predatory forces, such as alcohol and drug abuse, sexual violence, exploitation of various kinds. 

In the course of his activities, Cory discovers the bloody, frozen body of Natalie Hanson (Kelsey Asbillie), the young Native American woman seen running in the opening scene. Natalie was the best friend of Cory's teenage daughter, who also died mysteriously four years earlier. Cory is white, but his ex-wife (Julia Jones) is Native American.

Cory reports Natalie's death to the tribal police chief, Ben (Graham Greene). The wrinkles on Ben's face deepen, but he is not shocked. What's shocking is for the audience to realize how common early death is on the res—life expectancy is only 49. Ben and Cory report the death to Natalie's father (Gil Birmingham), who struggles to be stoical but is really ravaged.

The star-spangled banner at the entrance to the reservation always flies upside down as a sign of distress, but the federal government makes its presence felt in the person of Jane Banner (hmmm . . .), a young FBI agent from the Las Vegas office. Newbie Jane (Elizabeth Olsen) is plucky but unprepared for the climatic and other conditions at Wind River. In fact, she has to wear the snowgear of Cory's late daughter in order to survive the cold. Mentored by Cory, Jane more or less becomes his surrogate daughter, rather than—thankfully--the romantic interest that a less realistic film might have turned her into. 

Cory, Jane, and Ben undertake an investigation of Natalie's death that takes them to various modest dwellings—usually trailers—in remote locations, some of which turn out to be venues of fierce violence and criminality, perpetrated by both Natives and whites. Can the three prevail against these forces?

Renner as Cory is a memorable strong, silent type but even more memorable as a man of unspoken sorrow. Olsen's character inevitably calls to mind Jodie Foster's Oscar-winning turn as a young FBI agent in 1991's Silence of the Lambs. Olsen's character, however, is underwritten by comparison, but Olsen makes the most of what she has been given. Graham Greene, a Native American actor, provides superb support, as usual in his long career.

Taylor Sheridan won praise for his screenplays for Sicario and Hell or High Water, set in the contemporary Southwest. Now in his debut as director as well as writer, Sheridan explores another geographical and social area of today's West. The tour that he takes us on is gripping indeed.