Review of Wind River (2017) by Elijah L — 25 Sep 2017

Wind River is excellent, start to finish. The best film I have seen so far this year, no question. Jeremy Renner, who is often tragically wasted on mediocre scripts, delivers a quietly evocative and nuanced performance as a USFWS Tracker Cory Lambert who uses his skills to help a fish-out-of-water FBI agent Jane Banner (Elizabeth Olson) solve a murder reminiscent of the death of his own daughter years prior.

The film raises interesting questions about the definition of murder, and asks if forcing a beaten rape victim to run 6 miles in -20°C to safety counts as murder, a debate the coroner and Banner have in the film. This is a debate I haven't seen explored in cinema before, so it was very interesting to see.

Perhaps the film's best asset is its effectiveness at portraying the cold and isolation of its setting. With its chilling score and visuals, I began to experience temperature contagion, forcing me to actually put my coat back on 45 minutes in. Very few films are able to have this effect on me, and I always love it when they do. Wind River is also excellently plotted, with an immensely satisfying conclusion and no loose ends to be found - a telltale sign of a film written by Taylor Sheridan.

Taylor Sheridan is not only an excellent writer with his repertoire of Sicario and Hell or High Water, but proves himself to be an equally good director with one of the best directorial debuts from a writer in recent memory (I am yet to see Aaron Sorkin's Molly's Game). This makes me look forward to Sicario's sequel next year even more.