Sicario is one of the movies that got me invested in film, and influenced me to start going to see smaller movies. That movie was written by former actor Taylor Sheridan. Sheridan then followed that up in 2016 with Hell or High Water, another brilliantly written crime drama. Wind River marks his directorial debut and oh man am I impressed.
Wind River follows the investigation of a young girl's murder within the Wind River Native American Reserve. We are shown the investigation through the eyes of an FBI officer played by Elizabeth Olsen, and the town's game tracker/hunter played by Jeremy Renner. Throughout their journey the audience is put through a lot of intense and emotional moments all the way up to the credits.
Jeremy Renner's character is the one that first find the dead body of the girl that is murdered, which is quite coincidental as he himself lost his daughter a few years prior. We are put through the emotions he feels for both girl's as well as things between his ex wife and son, both of whom still seem deeply affected by their daughter/sister's death. I enjoy a lot of Renner's prior work but nothing he has done compares to his work in this, at least in my opinion. The emotion he brings is incredibly deep and his performance is so strong he blends perfectly into every scene. Renner shares the screen with Olsen a lot throughout, and Olsen also brings some of her best work. Her character is incredibly out of place, flying from Vegas into the cold wilderness without even a warm coat. While she isn't used to her surroundings she is by no means a weak character as she adapts and takes full control of the investigation. I thought Olsen's performance throughout was very good but an incredibly emotional scene towards the end pushed that very good to a great. There isn't a single actor in the film that does a bad job, everyone fits their scenes amazingly. I don't want to go in depth on any supporting cast members as none are in the film for a long time. With that in mind I want to give some credit to Gil Birmingham, who plays the father of the murdered girl. He is only in two scenes but they are two of the best scenes and he brings a lot of well acted grief in both.
Now, onto the writer/director. In my opinion, Taylor Sheridan is one of the top writers working today, and I think with a few more films of this caliber under his belt he could be in the conversation of great up and coming directors. Much like his writing debut Sicario, this movie is directed with a lot of great intensity that keeps you on the edge of your seat the entire time. There are many drawn out shots that in some movies may get boring, but with Sheridan's great dialogue the audience has no choice but to remain invested. The script for the most part knows what details to build and what to focus less on, so no time is wasted on unnecessary information. My only fault with the writing is that there are characters I would like to see more of such as Renner's character's ex wife and son.
Another issue I had which almost pays testament to how enthralling the film is, is that I would've liked to see more. The film clocks in at 1h 47m which is a pretty average run time. That being said that run time flies by due to the thrilling intensity of scenes and long drawn out scenes packed with great dialogue. I think something could have been added to lengthen the investigation but this is based on a true story so who knows if there was anything else that could be added.
I also want to shed light on the fact that this movie is not for everyone, and has moments that will certainly make people uncomfortable. I wouldn't recommend this to anyone grieving as that is a large theme throughout the film. There are also two brief moments eluding to suicidal thoughts and depression due to the grief, for example a very quick shot of the dead girl's mother cutting herself. There is also a scene where a girl is violated and raped which is obviously a topic that gives many people discomfort. The intensity of the film is also something I think could make people uncomfortable at times.
If you can handle those potentially triggering moments I think this movie is one you should definitely check out. Sheridan's directorial debut is thrilling and packed with deep, true emotion that keeps the audience on the edge of their seats.
Rating: 4.5/5
Written by Matt McKenzie
Wind River follows the investigation of a young girl's murder within the Wind River Native American Reserve. We are shown the investigation through the eyes of an FBI officer played by Elizabeth Olsen, and the town's game tracker/hunter played by Jeremy Renner. Throughout their journey the audience is put through a lot of intense and emotional moments all the way up to the credits.
Jeremy Renner's character is the one that first find the dead body of the girl that is murdered, which is quite coincidental as he himself lost his daughter a few years prior. We are put through the emotions he feels for both girl's as well as things between his ex wife and son, both of whom still seem deeply affected by their daughter/sister's death. I enjoy a lot of Renner's prior work but nothing he has done compares to his work in this, at least in my opinion. The emotion he brings is incredibly deep and his performance is so strong he blends perfectly into every scene. Renner shares the screen with Olsen a lot throughout, and Olsen also brings some of her best work. Her character is incredibly out of place, flying from Vegas into the cold wilderness without even a warm coat. While she isn't used to her surroundings she is by no means a weak character as she adapts and takes full control of the investigation. I thought Olsen's performance throughout was very good but an incredibly emotional scene towards the end pushed that very good to a great. There isn't a single actor in the film that does a bad job, everyone fits their scenes amazingly. I don't want to go in depth on any supporting cast members as none are in the film for a long time. With that in mind I want to give some credit to Gil Birmingham, who plays the father of the murdered girl. He is only in two scenes but they are two of the best scenes and he brings a lot of well acted grief in both.
Now, onto the writer/director. In my opinion, Taylor Sheridan is one of the top writers working today, and I think with a few more films of this caliber under his belt he could be in the conversation of great up and coming directors. Much like his writing debut Sicario, this movie is directed with a lot of great intensity that keeps you on the edge of your seat the entire time. There are many drawn out shots that in some movies may get boring, but with Sheridan's great dialogue the audience has no choice but to remain invested. The script for the most part knows what details to build and what to focus less on, so no time is wasted on unnecessary information. My only fault with the writing is that there are characters I would like to see more of such as Renner's character's ex wife and son.
Another issue I had which almost pays testament to how enthralling the film is, is that I would've liked to see more. The film clocks in at 1h 47m which is a pretty average run time. That being said that run time flies by due to the thrilling intensity of scenes and long drawn out scenes packed with great dialogue. I think something could have been added to lengthen the investigation but this is based on a true story so who knows if there was anything else that could be added.
I also want to shed light on the fact that this movie is not for everyone, and has moments that will certainly make people uncomfortable. I wouldn't recommend this to anyone grieving as that is a large theme throughout the film. There are also two brief moments eluding to suicidal thoughts and depression due to the grief, for example a very quick shot of the dead girl's mother cutting herself. There is also a scene where a girl is violated and raped which is obviously a topic that gives many people discomfort. The intensity of the film is also something I think could make people uncomfortable at times.
If you can handle those potentially triggering moments I think this movie is one you should definitely check out. Sheridan's directorial debut is thrilling and packed with deep, true emotion that keeps the audience on the edge of their seats.
Rating: 4.5/5
Written by Matt McKenzie
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