Opening soon in selected cities, Wind River is a complex murder mystery set in a remote part of Wyoming. It is a complex story sparse on dialogue and full of action and personal drama. It may not be for everyone, but if you are a movie buff, don’t miss this film from first-time director (and Oscar-nominated writer) Taylor Sheridan.
Wind River (Jeremy Renner, Elizabeth Olsen, Graham Greene) – Out in the Wyoming wilderness, life is hard. The weather is brutal; jobs are hard to find; and many Native Americans live in squalor and obscurity.
Jeremy Renner portrays Cory Lambert, a federal employee for the Fish and Wildlife Service, whose job entails hunting predatory animals to protect the wildlife that provides sustenance for local ranchers and farmers. He is a sharpshooter, a patient, hearty, soft-spoken local whose personal life has been defined by the brutal death of his teenage daughter. That event resulted in the separation of Cory from his Native American wife but they remain close mostly because they have a son they love. Cory is a good father. He teaches the boy the skills necessary to exist in the wilderness: caring for animals, riding horses, and using a rifle.
Set in this wilderness, Wind River is a murder/mystery. While hunting a pack of mountain lions that has been killing livestock, Cory finds a young Native American woman’s dead body. Found barefoot in the snow miles away from civilization, she had been raped and beaten, but ultimately died from burst lungs due to exposure to the unbearable cold.
The local police chief in the Wind River Reservation, Ben (Graham Greene, who was Oscar nominated for Dancing With Wolves), takes over the investigation and calls in the FBI. The agent sent to investigate is Jane Banner (Elizabeth Olsen), who is stationed in Las Vegas and hails from Ft. Lauderdale. She is a duck out of water and shows up in gear fit for a Vegas winter, not a Wyoming blizzard. Ben, Cory and Jane head to the crime scene and go about investigating the crime.
The film is gritty, tragic, and tough to watch. In the end, this unique movie is a tale of survival in a part of the country where surviving is a way of life. At its heart, this is a personal drama about loss, grieving, and friendship. Part Insomnia and The Revenant, the movie will remind you of last year’s Best Picture nominee Hell or High Water. That is no accident. Taylor Sheridan, who wrote both films (he was Oscar nominated for his Hell or High Water screenplay), also directs Wind River.
As a director, he is a fine writer. His use of not-so-Steadicam is somewhat distracting. His pacing isn’t perfect either. But that is just quibbling. Wind River is a wonderful, complex film; a murder mystery set in the wilderness amidst unsettling personal drama.