A slow chiller crime thriller that builds its suspense with a grim direction.

Rating: 7/10 (18 August 2017)

Wind River is a suspenseful thriller from a writer Taylor Sheridan (who has done previous scripts like Hell or High Water or Sicario). The plot follows US wildlife service Cory (Jeremy Renner) who works in the Wind River Indian reservation in hunting for wolves or other predators that attack the livestock in peoples property. When he is out in the snowy landscapes. He discovers a dead girl, who must have been running from something and died from breathing in the below zero air. What was she running from? And why is she out in the middle of nowhere? It raises the questions that cause FBI Jane (Elizabeth Olsen) to travel to Wind River which is way out of her comfort zone as an environment. Jane is going to need a tracker and the help from Cory in hunting a predator that harassed and murdered a teenage girl.
I will say I did find Wind River to have its suspenseful moments. It may not be as good like Sicario and Hell or High Water which they were thrilling and kept you on the edge of your seat. Wind River being the third script by Taylor Sheridan and also directing this film. He does a few things right for being his directorial debut. He added an isolation tone to the film. Which a few characters reference the feeling of living in the mountains of Wyoming and feeling distant from society. The feeling of loneliness and how some people commit crimes to go to prison for better comfort and care. This film also focusing on a Native American reservation setting and how people go missing every year in the frozen snowy mountains.
The plot is simple for its crime drama about an FBI agent and a tracker trying to solve a murder by investigating the victims drug addict brother and trying to find her boyfriend that works as a security for a drilling company in the mountains.
I say Jeremy Renner and Elizabeth Olsen were perfect with their performances. Even though, they already had on screen chemistry with the Avengers movie. Their duo chemistry worked well here. Renner playing a character that is struggling within himself from a tragic past and grief. And great as a tracker. Olsen playing a character that is not in her comfort zone with going to a snowy climate. When she arrives, she is underdressed for the cold weather with a small jacket and high heels.
The film is slow moving and does take a while for it to set up the suspense. The cinematography work in capturing the Wyoming mountains and snowy wildness is chilling and visually stunning to look at. Nonetheless, the pace is slow and boring until the thrills build up in the climax leading to an intense standoff with the police and the driller's security.
Overall, Wind River is a fairly done thriller that you would need patience for the slow moving script to build the suspense for a shoot out climax. Jeremy Renner and Elizabeth Olsen performance is worth looking at. Even the visual setting of the reservation mountain of Wind River is breathtaking.
I will rate the film 3 and a half star out of 5.