Wind River Downcuts Deeper Than a Mystery

Release Date：Aug/04/2017

Genre：Crime/Drama/Mystery/Thriller

Director：Taylor Sheridan

Cast：Jeremy Renner、Elizabeth Olsen

Viola's Rating：8.3

Even when superhero feature films are trending, actors and actresses who achieved fame through the genre still pick other kind of films to star in to let the world see their acting abilities. After costarring in “The Avengers: Age of Ultron”, the two popular superheroes Elizabeth Olsen and Jeremy Renner reunited again for their latest flick “Wind River”.

According to the prologue, the plot of “Wind River” is based on true stories. It talks about a veteran tracker, Cory Lambert (Jeremy Renner), who works at the Fish and Wildlife Service, helps an FBI agent, Jane Banner (Elizabeth Olsen), to investigate the murder of a young Native American woman, and uses the case as an avenue to seek redemption for an earlier incident of irresponsibility which ended in tragedy and haunts him ever since.

Being a screenwriter-turned-director, “Wind River” is Taylor Sheridan’s first motion picture. His previous writing works “Hell or High Water” and “Sicario” are critically acclaimed, and the former one was Oscar nominated. Paying a lot attention to minorities and social vulnerable groups, Sheridan made the abovementioned movies to demonstrate the desperate reality some American citizens experience.

As the opening scene and shots throughout “Wind River” show the snow-capped mountains and the white land, it’s hard to imagine that most of the picture was shot in Utah, where people usually relate to desert. However, Park City, Utah is a city that boasts two ski resorts, which is a proper place for shooting while the actual happening location is the Wind River Indian Reservation in Wyoming.

Bloody red and pure white create a contrast and horror for “Wind River”, and the background and hunt remind its audience of “The Revenant”. Both feature films draw attention to Native American’s difficult positions and the situations they’re facing and try to raise awareness about them.

A mysterious crime drama “Wind River” is, how its plot conveys the story is similar to “Gone Girl”, which creates a scenario for moviegoers to dig into and investigate the case along with the protagonists. The narrative structure is giving out various clues and then revealing the truth all of a sudden, so audience doesn’t have to wait too long but can still enjoy the process trying to figure out the answer to the puzzle.

Although “Wind River” is depressing since it opens with a murder, throughout the film, it shows us the hope and strength of life and how people cope with the environment to the best extent. Eventually, “Wind River” is not only an entertaining flick, but also an allegory telling a deep lesson which provides the audience some food for thought, and is no doubt one of the best motion pictures of the year.

Picture Credit: IMDb