Movie · 2017 · Crime, Mystery, Drama, Thriller · 1h 47m · R · English
Curator score: 7.3/10 (646.4K ratings)
Nothing is harder to track than the truth.
Overview
An FBI agent teams with the town's veteran game tracker to investigate a murder that occurred on a Native American reservation.
Ratings
Curator score: 7.3/10
IMDb: 7.7/10
Letterboxd: 3.84/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 87%
Metacritic: 73
TMDB: 7.4/10
Director
Taylor Sheridan
Production
Savvy Media Holdings, Thunder Road, Film 44, Acacia Filmed Entertainment, Riverstone Pictures, Voltage Pictures
Cast
Jeremy Renner, Elizabeth Olsen, Gil Birmingham, Graham Greene, Jon Bernthal, Kelsey Asbille, Teo Briones, Tantoo Cardinal, Matthew Del Negro, Hugh Dillon, Julia Jones, James Jordan, Eric Lange, Martin Sensmeier, Apesanahkwat, Althea Sam, Tokala Black Elk, Tyler Laracca, Shayne J. Cullen, Dallin Tusieseina
Where to watch
Netflix
Curator Review
Verdict
A bleak, tightly wound murder mystery that uses its frozen setting and procedural structure to build real dread. Strong performances and a grim sense of place make it memorable, even if its handling of Indigenous characters and trauma is imperfect.
Best for
viewers who like cold-weather crime thrillers
fans of grounded procedural mysteries
people who want tense, adult-oriented drama
audiences drawn to bleak revenge-adjacent stories
Skip if
you want a warm or uplifting thriller
you’re sensitive to graphic violence and sexual assault themes
you prefer mysteries with a lighter touch or more twists than mood
you want a film with fully nuanced representation at its center
Overview
Wind River is a hard, wintry crime drama that gets a lot of mileage out of atmosphere. The snowbound reservation setting feels isolated and unforgiving, and Taylor Sheridan uses that landscape to turn a murder investigation into something closer to a survival story. The film’s best asset is its escalation of tension: it starts as a procedural and steadily becomes something far more punishing.
Worth noting
Jeremy Renner and Elizabeth Olsen give the movie a steady emotional core, and Gil Birmingham adds real weight whenever the film lets him speak. The performances help offset some of the script’s blunt-force tendencies, which can feel overly schematic or self-serious at times. Still, the movie knows how to hold a grim mood and keep it there.
Bottom line
What lingers most is the sense of injustice and exhaustion. It’s not subtle, and it isn’t especially generous in how it frames every character or institution, but it is effective as a bleak genre piece. If you want a cold, tense thriller with a strong sense of place and a brutal final stretch, this delivers.
Top Letterboxd reviews
#1 gizmo fan (4★) · 2837 likes
women are a fucking force. elizabeth olsen is an angel. jon bernthal is an angel. SHE RAN SIX MILES IN THE SNOW. I FUCKING. BYE.
isabel 🦋 (4★) · 2124 likes
My favorite part was when they killed all those assholes
ava adore (4.5★) · 1519 likes
It made me cry and then I went up to taylor Sheridan my new favorite man alive aka a good screenwriter and director and told him
He
Made
Me
Cry and he said that's a goal and then I asked him if I could hug him and he said absolutely and it was precious
lauren (4★) · 1358 likes
there’s no reason why jeremy renners character couldn’t have been played by a native american actor 👀 👀
Evan (4.5★) · 1351 likes
Speechless.
During the entire final 25 minutes I sat there stiff as a board with my jaw on the floor. Some of the most intense stuff I've ever seen in a movie.
Wind River has compelling characters, engaging story, beautiful visuals, and outstanding performances.
Jeremy Renner, Elizabeth Olsen, and Graham Greene all knock it out of the freaken park. If Renner doesn't get an Oscar Nomination, it will be an absolute travesty.
You would think Taylor Sheridan has been directing for YEARS!
2007 · Crime, Thriller, Western · 2h 2m · R · Curator 9.6/10 (3.1M ratings) · Where to watch: fuboTV, Paramount Plus Premium, Paramount Plus Essential, MGM Plus, Philo
For its spare violence, fatalism, and relentless pressure-cooker suspense.
1998 · Crime, Drama, Thriller · 2h 1m · R · Curator 8.0/10 (147.9K ratings) · Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video, MGM Plus, Amazon Prime Video with Ads
For its escalating moral collapse and the way money, violence, and secrecy poison everything.