Sending a cold brisk current down the viewers’ spine, Taylor Sheridan’s Wind River is a darkly piercing mystery crime thriller with an old school western vibe.
Providing the film with a unique spin much like another story he penned, Hell or High Water (which earned Sheridan an Academy Award nomination), the motion picture has the feel of a traditional western updated with modern topics and themes. Like a John Ford epic, you’ll find a posse searching for answers, characters chock full of bravery, a sort of wild lawlessness, and picturesque yet harsh locales, though this is not set in the blistering deserts of the nineteenth century wild west, but rather on an Native American reserve in present day Wyoming, where the chilling wind blows a substance no less forgiving – snow.
The narrative follows a game tracker, Cory Lambert (Jeremy Renner – looking a little bit like the un-mustached cold weather version of the Marlboro Man), a depressed guy with a painful past. He and his ex-wife Wilma (Julia Jones) split the duties of taking care of their young son Casey (Teo Briones). While out on one of his tracking expeditions, he discovers the body of a teenaged girl in the snow (signs point to foul play).
Reporting it to Tribal Police Chief Ben (Graham Greene), he in turn contacts the FBI who send newbie Special Agent Jane Banner (Elizabeth Olsen), a Florida born, Las Vegas stationed woman who is wholly unprepared for the rugged, utterly frigid terrain.
When the coroner analyses the body, he is unable to call it a murder, despite the fact they all know that it is. Though the girl was beaten, raped and was without shoes or gloves, there is no wound that technically killed her. Banner, knowing that the FBI will call her back without the murder stamp (something the local Tribal Police are all too used to – never getting any help), the caring, well intentioned officer asks for the help of Lambert and Ben, forming a triumvirate posse of sorts. This leads them down a dangerous path. . . will they be able to solve the complex case or will it come to a dead end?
To paraphrase a line from the film – there’s no such thing as luck in the wilderness, you survive or surrender. There is a dichotomy to the reserve – the drifting snow that leads the eye to unbelievably picturesque vistas of mountains and wooded forests is mesmerizingly beautiful, yet it is matched by an inhospitable landscape filled with pain, loss and heartbreak. Lambert is one such example, as his story in many ways falls in line with the case they are working on. Those living on the reserve are used to the fact that they don’t receive a helping hand, that answers are rarely given to loved ones whose family members have died or disappeared, and that many of their rank turn to alcohol and drugs to fill the void in their unfulfilled existence – as their past traditions become more illusive and forgotten with each passing year.
It demonstrates the clash of cultures, but also the need to work together, as the posse do. Interestingly, each member of the group comes there by way of different reasoning. It is Lambert’s past that allows him to say yes – is he looking for answers for his own wounds or simply trying to correct the most recent egregious happening to inflict the community? His background is perfect for the team, seeing things in a different light; explaining to Banner that “you’re looking for clues, but you’re missing all the signs”. Banner is a young go-getter with a helpful mindset. . . not yet broken down by the cynicism of the job. She witnesses the lack of staff and support the Police Chief has, perhaps realizing it most when they are about to enter a property full of sketchy individuals, asking “shouldn’t we just wait for some backup?”, to which Ben replies, “this isn’t the land of backup, Jane. This is the land of ‘you’re on your own’”. As for Ben, it is his job, but he also realizes the advantages of having this union with two other able beings, seeing the possibility of finally succeeding after so many other failures.
With an intriguing visual aesthetic, Sheridan draws us into the cryptic tale. Depicting natural landscapes, flashes of action, and dramatic thrills with utter ease in only his second directorial effort (and first major venture), it is very much like the work of a seasoned vet. Some of his transitions are just mesmerizing, perhaps the most clever when Banner knocks on a door during the day, and, as it opens, we think we will see the man on the other side, yet he flashes back to an earlier evening, providing us with a disturbing inside perspective of just what happened on that fateful night (it also features a nice cameo from Jon Bernthal and a solid performance from Kelsey Asbille as Natalie Hanson). The framing of the film’s final shot is also perfect in its simplicity (the empty swings symbolic of the loss of both of those characters).
With a raw look at loss, some of Wind River’s most jarring conversations come between Lambert and Martin Hanson (Gil Birmingham), the father who has just lost his daughter. They touch the soul, dark poetry that moves us. . . advice on learning how to live with your pained past. As an alternate perspective, there is the equally shocking way in which Martin’s wife Annie (Althea Sam) is coping (if it can be called that) with the situation. Yet, like Hell or High Water, Sheridan provides the audience with key touches of comedic relief throughout, moments of respite to ease the tension that is so thick you could cut it with a knife.
In many ways a story of vigilante and rough justice, Wind River is a nuanced motion picture that combines the freedom of the lawless old west with modern times and themes – making for a unique viewing experience. Combining beautifully crafted performances and spot on direction that bring out the most from the superbly written script, it is a dark tale that, despite its woeful subject, also provides a glimmer of hope for people even in the grimmest of states. This is no whimper of a film, make your way to see this moving motion picture – it won’t leave you out in the cold.