Really well-made murder mystery

Rating: 8/10 (2 January 2018)

'Wind River' is from the writer of 'Sicario' & 'Hell or High Water', but is only Sheridan's second directorial effort, which makes it all the more impressive. It's a really simple plot - a Native American teenager is found dead, by Lambert (Renner) in the Wind River reservation and Banner (Olsen) is the FBI agent assigned to solve the case. Lambert is a tracker and hunter ad knows the terrain, so helps local cop Ben (Greene) and Banner in the snowy mountains.
Nick Cave & Warren Ellis bring their sparse, 'Skeleton Tree'-like sounds to the score and soundtrack, and it definitely helps set the mood and highlight the sparseness of the northern Winter (or Spring, technically). The film moves along quite rapidly, with the investigation never boring, but still time to build plenty of backstory for Lambert and the reservation.
The final 20min or so is handled really well, with a few surprises thrown in. Similar to the Australian-set 'Goldstone' in some ways. It all looks beautiful (odd that it was filmed in Utah, not in the real-life reservation in Wyoming), with plenty of nice scenic and animal shots, but also plenty of sadness. Renner and Olsen carry the film with nuanced performances, and there's thankfully no romantic distractions. It's just a great, straightforward crime-solving scenario, done right.