Wind River

An Indian girl was found murdered in the middle of Wyoming. An FBI agent arrives on the scene to find the killer with the help of a local tracker. Little does she know that this inhospitable land may be a bit too much for her to handle. Taylor Sheridan's directorial debut follows in the footsteps of his earlier films, and this time we get an atmospheric, gritty and manly piece where there's plenty of time for everything, but the slowly building atmosphere is ultimately so intense that you'll be biting your nails with suspense. And root for Jeremy Renner to win an Oscar. (16/08/2017)

A very atmospheric, cold crime film with one immensely tense and thrilling scene that the screenwriter (and director) allow to be interspersed with another, even more tense scene, which can then hit the viewer (who is prepared for anything) with something that we hardly ever see these days. Wind River is like an icy whiff of the good old film days, when crime films and thrillers cared mostly about characters, and when a duel between two people was enough for a memorable ending. (10/10/2017)

The Indian reservation of Wind River is not a place that you would choose for a pleasant luxury vacation. It is an inhospitable, sparsely populated place far from civilization, where only those who have no other choice or those who do not need much in life and do not want much from it live. The discovery of a raped Native American girl's body brings together local predator hunter Cory and inexperienced FBI agent Jane. The subsequent investigation can be considered a counterbalance to crime thrillers based on effects and shocking plot twists. It is an intimate story full of weight, bitterness, and melancholy. Although I did not find in it the promised "mystery," the majestic nature of the freezing mountains and the slowly dosed tension was more than enough for me. Taylor Sheridan is primarily a screenwriter, and it might have been better to look for a more established name for the director's position, but it is not that crucial. Rather, I would like to emphasize again: do not expect anything relaxing, this is an adult drama with a slower pace and without clever screenwriting tricks, built on acting performances and tragedies of ruined human lives. Wind River is a film that you don't necessarily have to see in movie theaters, but you shouldn't miss it. It is an above-average genre film that may not elicit a burst of superlatives from most viewers, but it reliably does its job. Overall impression: 75%. (19/10/2017)

If you like movies and watch a large number of them every month, including the new ones, then you will appreciate a movie that is written so perfectly from start to finish that it's a pleasure to watch. That's probably why I would simply describe why I gave the film five stars. I had a feeling that from the beginning till the end I was watching a crime film with everything it entails. There were no complicated explanations, but an amazingly chilly atmosphere and wonderful locations. Everything fits together perfectly, and you enjoy not only the suffering of Elizabeth Olsen, but also Jeremy Renner, who became the lone fighter for justice the moment he put on the white overalls and ventured alone into the wild. I was excited. I didn’t miss a single minute of this movie. And the best part is that you can really feel that Taylor Sheridan is behind all of that. You can sense the chilling atmosphere of Sicario, but also the dangerous shoot offs of the film Hell or High Water. And yet you know that this film is in its way completely unique. Hopefully, Sheridan will maintain that diligence. When it comes to filmmaking craft, Wind River is one of the best films I saw in 2017. (12/10/2017)

As a director, Taylor Sheridan is looking to find his own style and optimal storytelling rhythm, but as a screenwriter he excels once more. As in Sicario and Hell or High Water, he creates another rough space that seems to exist outside of our reality. And just like in Sicario, he brings a somewhat naive woman into it who needs a guide and initiators to survive here. This means that an orthodox supporter of feminism will not find what they are looking for in Wind River. Wyoming in this film is above all a place for mourning, despair and vanishing traditions, a snow canvas of misery and surrender, a land of hunters and trackers, in which women disappear without a trace. Sheridan incorporates a personal story of reconciliation into the detective-thriller, about the acceptance of a world in which "happiness lives in cities" and people outside of them have at most enough time to mourn and fall into despair. Jeremy Renner is admirable, economical as a hunting beast, and vulnerable when he loses the scent. This is the best performance of his career, I have no doubt about that. Sheridan is slowly preparing the background for the last act, which does not culminate in a shootout or harsh retrospective, but a final dialogue in which everything essential is hidden. It’s about people who live on the land that has been stolen from them losing their bond with their ancestors. They have no vision of a better future, only the sorrow that needs to be accepted. Wind River is a melancholic film-portrait of a place, a more action-based genre version of Manchester by the Sea. Sheridan writes words, landscapes and characters that touch me deeply. It’s an eternal pity that the Czech viewer will not get to see Wind River in the distribution... (07/07/2017)