Review- Wind River

Wind River is directed and written by Taylor Sheridan, writer of Sicario and my favourite movie of last year, Hell or High Water and you can certainly feel the connective tissue between those movies. It takes place in an isolated Native American reservation in Utah where a girl has just been found dead in the cold. Jeremy Renner, a hunter, finds this body and is brought onto the case to help the FBI agent, played by Elizabeth Olson, as she tries to get to the bottom of what happened. I don't want to say too much about the plot as with Sheridan's other movies, the joy is in watching the subtleties play out. Needless to say though, there's some twists in there and a couple of things that merge into something else right in front of our eyes. The plot, miserable as it was, was a joy to watch unfold as Sheridan is clearly a master of his craft. After this film, I can only hope that he wins the best Screenplay award at the Oscars this year because he deserves it yet again.

There aren't many performances in the movie and certainly there are some I can't mention for spoiler reasons but the ones I can talk about are uniformly excellent. Jeremy Renner is the character who is probably closest to the main character and he is just fantastic. Most people mainly know him from the Avengers movies as Hawkeye and while he does a fine job in those, it doesn't do justice to his talent. The first real showcase I got of that was in The Hurt Locker where he is utterly compelling and here, he is at his career best. Renner occupies that late-western stereotype of the strong, silent type and therefore does little talking and much steely glares. Considering the darkness beneath his character, it's a very well done performance. His co-star, Elizabeth Olsen, is another actress mainly known for Marvel movies and while I haven't seen any seriously dramatic work from her before (but with Ingrid Goes West coming out soon, I hope to see more), this is a great indicator of things to come. Her character is out of her depth in so many ways, not even bringing a coat with her. Watching Olsen show this character unravel and slowly break under the pressure is incredibly impressive and the restraint is perfect. In the supporting cast, there is Hell or High Water actor Gil Birmingham playing the father of the deceased daughter and while I expected him to be in it more, the few scenes he has are absolutely heartbreaking. In any reasonable world, this would get a supporting actor Oscar. Before I move onto the next part, I just want to say that there is a brief appearance from another actor from a different Taylor Sheridan movie and my knowledge of his role in that movie initially suggested the scene going one way before snapping brutally like a neck and becoming horrific in a different way. You'll know what I mean why you see it.

With this final paragraph, I want to talk about how impressively Sheridan directs the film. Before watching the film, I thought this was his directorial debut and while it isn't (he directed a movie called Vile which was poorly received but not written by Sheridan), it's his first big directorial project. Stylistically, it bears a lot in common with Hell or High Water (probably the reason I like it so much) but lacks some of the levity that film has, leaning more to the dark tonal depths of Sicario. Unlike many modern western-alikes, the violence in this movie is sparse although Sheridan ensures that in the moments violence does break out, it is quick and it is nasty. There is no glory in the violent acts committed with this film and one scene about halfway through the movie brutally shows the effects that these acts have had on the residents of Wind River. In a similar way to Renner's movie The Hurt Locker, no one comes out unscathed, either physically or emotionally. Tonal balancing is here as well and again, Sheridan just does a great job. There are a couple of amusing moments thrown in to comfort the audience but largely, there's this dread hanging over most of the film. That's what makes the violence so effective, the build up. It doesn't last long but because of what comes before, it stings and leaves those hooks in for the rest of the movie.

In case you hadn't noticed, I love this film. It's easily one of my favourite of the year so prepare to hear more about it as the year goes on, especially if it gets nominated in any big award ceremonies. There are no flaws I found in it per se but it doesn't quite have that addictive thrill Hell or High Water did. That said, I highly recommend this film if you want a horror of the human spirit instead of a horror of supernatural clowns to watch this week. The ranking could well go up but for now, Wind River easily earns itself the rating of a