A year before launching Yellowstone on TV, Taylor Sheridan wrote and directed a neo-Western crime film called Wind River.

This thrilling flick was only Sheridan’s second time as the director of a feature film, and he did an amazing job.

The story revolves around the murder of a Native American woman, Natalie Hanson (Kelsey Asbille). Her death soon leads investigators to realize they’re actually trying to solve two murders, not one.

 

 

Since this movie has recently returned to Netflix, Watch With Us is sharing the three reasons you need to watch Wind River this month.

Jeremy Renner and Elizabeth Olsen were still neck-deep in their Marvel era when they were cast as the stars of Wind River. Perhaps their familiarity with each other from the Avengers movies is why they had such great chemistry in this film. Renner plays U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Agent Cory Lambert, the man who discovers Natalie’s body. FBI Agent Jane Banner (Olsen) is sent shortly thereafter to determine if Natalie’s death was a homicide.

 

 

This is a serious film, and Renner and Olsen give it the gravitas it deserves. They leave their superhero personas behind for more human performances, although Renner’s Lambert does a few things that may stretch credulity. The rest of the cast is also very good in the film, especially during the extended flashback that reveals what really happened the night Natalie was killed.

Not everyone wants to see this mystery solved, but the biggest obstacles to solving this mystery are the men with something to hide. In some ways, it’s easier to infer what the story is about just from the way that Brenner and Lambert are received by people who supposedly knew the victims of their crime.

While the movie does eventually present viewers with the way that Natalie and someone close to her were killed, the film isn’t given the respect that it’s due. The rising suspense between the law officers and their prey explodes on screen and gives Wind River its flavor.