Wind River

UK Release Date. 8 September 2017
Certification. 15
Running Time. 1 hour 47 mins
Director. Taylor Sheridan
Cast. Jon Bernthal, Gil Birmingham, Graham Greene, Elizabeth Olsen, Jeremy Renner.
Rating. 79%

Review.

Taylor Sheridan established himself as a formidable neo-noir thriller writer with two impressive screenplays - Sicario (2015) and Hell Or High Water (2016). The latter was nominated for four Academy Awards, including Best Original Screenplay. Sheridan's next high-profile screenplay, Wind River, a modern-day western much in the same veins as No Country For Old Men and Hell Or High Water, saw the screenplay writer turn director.

The film takes place in Wyoming on the Wind River Indian Reservation. Jeremy Renner is cast as State Fish and Wildlife officer, Cory Lambert, who finds the dead body of 18-year-old Natalie Hanson (Kelsey Asbille), evidently beaten and raped, in the frozen wasteland miles from any human habitation. A lone FBI agent, Jane Banner (Elizabeth Olsen) is sent to investigate the potential homicide. Banner enlists his help with the investigation but Lambert has his own reasons for helping - his own teenage daughter was apparently murdered some years previous.

The opening 45 minutes of the film is a slow build. The audience is introduced to the town of Wind River, and the cold, stark, lifeless opportunities it provides for its residents. Sheridan deliberately unpacks the principal characters, although I would suggest that the characters are a little underdeveloped, especially Jane Banner. This period of exposition and development paves the way for a taut, adrenaline-fueled final hour.

The Wind River Reservation's majestic landscape dominates proceedings, with impressive snow-covered mountain vistas and temperate boreal forest prevalent throughout much of the screen time. However, the most important element of the film is the dynamic between Renner and Ohlsen. Her character is seemingly wide-eyed, inquisitive and wet behind the ears, his enigmatic and somewhat world-weary, his face a relief map of experience and buried pain. Renner embraces the character of Cory Lambert, a man so damaged, lost and haunted by grief, and delivers one of his best performances alongside those from The Hurt Locker, The Town and Arrival. A lot of this is thanks to Sheridan's script, one which allows Renner space to effectively deliver his lines in sagacious monologues; "You're looking for clues, but you're missing all the signs" and "Wolves don't kill unlucky deer. They kill weak ones. You fought for your life, Jane... and now you get to walk away with it." The deep and insightful words are afforded time to resonate.

Wind River is a confident and accomplished effort. Sheridan inherently trusts his writing to communicate tone and emotion, so the direction is unobtrusive. Apparently, Sheridan made Wind River to help draw attention to the number of Native American women that are beaten, raped, killed or go missing every year. It's not over the top - crusading or preachy - instead, with trademark efficiency, the director delivers an engaging, brutal and intelligent thriller.