Wind River

The murder mystery film genre typically has a challenge to overcome when it comes to the formula most audience members find themselves familiar with at this point. It usually involves the main protagonist, such as a police officer and/or FBI agent, being alerted to the scene of a tragic crime and they go through they procedures of looking for evidence linking possible suspects, interrogating them, engaging in an occasional shootout, and eventually they find the perpetrators involved with the abuse the victim. Among the number of entries that don't put any effort in this type, the movies that standout for all of the right reasons include Momento, Seven, The Silence of the Lambs, and Sherlock Holmes. What helped them rise up in their own right were their themes, atmosphere, characters, and how the conundrum was solved. This brings us to an interesting entry that's been out in theaters since August, Wind River. Similar to the previous independent films reviewed earlier, it has gotten positive feedback from the critics and hasn't been marketed locally, which meant I had only seen the trailer for it once and found it enticing to watch based on the fact it was from Taylor Sheridan, who wrote Hell or High Water and Sicario, the former I enjoyed and the latter I haven't seen (it's also worth noting that they are part of their own crime thriller trilogy in their own distinct flavors). I entered the theater ready to see if it was going to move me like Hell or High Water did and left it very impressed by the experience it delivered.

Plot: The plot follows a US Fish and Wildlife Service tracker and an FBI agent who try to solve a rough death in the Wind River Indian Reservation. Instead of focusing on the aforementioned cliches you would associate with genre, there's an overarching theme of survival spread throughout the story, which is emphasized with the snowy terrain and the dangers that come with it. The circumstances around the environment and the dead victim leaves the protagonists without FBI reinforcements and only the limited resources they have in the area. In addition to that, there's a larger focus on the experience the characters are going through such as the effort the main leads go to in their investigation process, the effect on the victims parents, and the interactions rather than just jumping to the antagonists, like some generic films tend to do (the villains aren't important here). The pacing runs very smooth without any dragging moments and the runtime feels shorter as a result. There are a few well handled jump scares and intense action shootout scenes spread throughout the story. A special honorable mention goes to a flashback scene that's not only rough to watch (but nothing too extreme) but is arguably the best scene of the movie. Overall while the plot in Wind River is predictable, the aforementioned theme allows tense moments mixed with development of the leads as the story moves forward in the harsh environment that are worth watching.

Characters: The people to focus on are Cory Lambert (Jeremy Renner) and Jane Banner (Elizabeth Olsen). Cory is a US Fish and Wildlife Service agent with a tragic past who provides assistance in figuring out the puzzle. Jeremy gives a great portrayal (one of his best in his career) as this gruff and troubled tracker who sympathizes with the victims parents while using his hunting skills to track down clues. Jane is a rookie FBI agent who arrives to conduct a inspection over the death of the victim (since she was the closest to the location) and is the audience surrogate who learns the ropes about how harsh and unforgiving her job will be here. Elizabeth does brings a good performance for a role that doesn't give her much weight compared to the others instead allowing her to connect with Cory while having her firearms skills ready for danger. Honorable mentions goes to Matt (Jon Bernthal), Natalie (Kelsey Chow), and Ben (Graham Greene) for the former twos charisma and chemistry while the latters gruff attitude and little moments of levity blend in perfectly with the environment at hand. A special honorable mention goes to Martin (Gil Birmingham) for his great and relatable performance as a grieving father as well as his interactions with Cory (via the actors chemistry). Overall the people in Wind River are given compelling material that's strengthened by the actors great performances and chemistry with one another.

Overall Consensus: Wind River drives its character focused murder mystery thriller to great success via strong cast performances, snowy terrain testing survivability, and wonderful interactions. ⭑⭑⭑⭑🍿🎟

Reasons to watch it: You like any of the aforementioned actors. You like murder mystery thriller films that are character focused with investigation procedures. You like movies with a survival theme taking place in snowy terrain that has nice bits of cinematography. You like watching underrated independent movies. You aren't bothered by a white lead who's divorced from a Native American with a child of that ethnicity that reprimands another person in that group about their ancestry. You like films where the majority of the roles are played by Native Americans and don't mind that two of the main leads are white.

Reasons to avoid it: You dislike any of the aforementioned actors. You dislike murder mystery thrillers. You are bothered by a white lead who's divorced from a Native American with a child of that ethnicity that reprimands another person in that group about their ancestry. You prefer blockbuster films. You dislike films where the majority of the roles are played by Native American actors while two of the main leads are white. You are bothered by flashback scenes that are emotionally effective but hard to watch (as previously mentioned, harsh but nothing too extreme).

Coming up next: September-versary has been great with the independent movies as Wind River ends up being a contender for my top 10 movies of the year, though that remains to be seen with the rest of the upcoming movies. With a good portion of the recent entries being pretty serious in their tones, it's about time to get back to having fun with upcoming blockbusters. While the indie flicks reviewed here are wonderful to watch, the thirst for the enjoyment of mainstream studio movies has built up ready to be fulfilled. Tune in next time as Screening Spectacles will see if that desire will be satisfied with the upcoming spy action flick, Kingsman: The Golden Circle!!!