Taylor Sheridan is Here To Stay

Rating: 9/10 (14 September 2017)

As much as I like Sicario, I like it more for the direction and performances rather than the script, Hell or High Water on the other hand was so good mainly because of the screenplay so I was understandably very excited for Wind River and I was blown away by my second favourite movie of the year so far (falling only close behind Dunkirk) and I could not be more curious to see what Taylor Sheridan does next.
Sheridan wrote and directed this movie wonderfully, at first it seems like an ordinary murder mystery but it quickly turns into a character based drama with something real tragedy behind it with some very good social commentary in regards to the way the law works in the poorer areas of America and the treatment of Native Americans which makes this film more intelligent and fascinating than it could have been. Sheridan also took to the directing of this film really well, it made you feel the atmosphere of the film as well as giving some true realism, an Oscar nomination for the writing or the directing would be well deserved.
Sheridans script also happen to be very performances centric and this film is no different. Jeremy Renner gives the best performance of his career in this film, he's so subtle yet brilliant in his delivery, you get the sense that the character has been through some real turmoil and is in a lot of pain, it let you sympathise with his character more and he stole this movie for me. Elizabeth Olsen is also fantastic in this movie, real strong willed, professional yet quite inexperienced, she was really convincing as this character. I'm glad to see her get out of the marvel universe and give a more grounded performance like this.
The location played a big part in this movie, it was almost a central character, like Sicario and Hell or High Water before it Wind River really makes you feel like it's main location is a grimy place, not one you would want to visit. It gave this film a real grit to it, nothing felt like a movie but about as close to real life as this film could be. Sheridan did a good job of making you feel cold while watching this movie, you hear the wind in the air and see the thick snow on screen, it makes you feel like you are there and that's one of the best praises I can give a movie.
Despite all the social commentary this film is still a murder mystery at its heart and that mystery is very intriguing, it's a good guessing game like any solid mystery should be but the pay-off was fairly unsatisfactory. The film just kind of tells you the answer and was done in a fairly lazy way.
Wind River is amazing, it's got a brilliant script with a good directing style to match, fantastic, career best performances from Jeremy Renner and Elizabeth Olsen, a very good atmospheric location as well as a solid central mystery. Even if the answer to that mystery is given in a fairly lazy way I was far too impressed with everything that came before for that to bother me to much. I'm very excited to see what Taylor Sheridan does next and I truly think he's becoming a real talent to watch out for.
9.5/10: A (Phenomenal)