"Wind River" - Murder In The Wyoming Mountains

Remember the name, Taylor Sheridan. That name continues to create some of the best thrillers in the past few years. Between Sicario and Hell or High Water, this is easily my favorite movie from him.

For starters, Jeremy Renner and Elizabeth Olsen give such brilliant performances as the troubled yet fearless hunter and FBI agent. I knew going into it Renner would kill because he’s taken on some Oscar worthy roles before, but it was so refreshing to see Olsen show off her acting skills after first seeing her in Age of Ultron. All the other secondary cast members are also incredible enough to the point where you want to wikipedia some of the actors, which is pretty rare when it comes to me viewing films. The setting of Wyoming is utilized so masterfully with the glowing cinematography, editing and the spot on writing as well.

Which brings me to my next point. This is a god damn incredible thriller. The writing is just so perfect in every way. It starts off as a murder mystery, but slowly turns into something bigger and then it totally twists the plot on you like a wet sponge to have you grabbing onto your armrests for the last half hour of the film. There are of course some amazing turning moments that shock you and get your heart racing, but it also has the perfect balance of heartwarming and sad themes that bring out the main messages of loss, suffering, and family.

Another great thing about the script is how it fits diversity like a well tightened screw in it’s story. I’m also going to jump back to the cast this one. The trailers for this movie don’t give this away, but this cast is highly native american. That to me is so wonderful. I’ma fan of diversity, however, I want diversity to actually fit in good scripts, not just to say, “hey, here’s our black guy as a random character, we’re diverse!” “Wind River” takes a dynamite as hell native American cast that is mostly unknown besides the dad of Jacqueline from “Kimmy Schmidt” and not only lets these cast members have their moment to shine, but their presence also brings a bigger theme to the film that will truly shock you and get you thinking. I’ll let you find out what that theme is when you see the film, but trust me, the way Sheridan fit native americans into his script is some of the best writing work I have seen in a long time.

Please go see this. If this is not an Oscar contender come 2018, I’m going to be breaking some windows. “Wind River” is so well deserving of the praise, it's not even fair.

Two Nebs Up!