Wind River (2017)

The people of the Wind River reservation are the heart of this movie, but the two leads aren’t from the community, and the film leans on them for nearly every big moment. That’s fair to question. It’s also one of the best crime dramas of its decade. Jeremy Renner plays Cory, a quiet tracker who reads the snow like a newspaper, and Elizabeth Olsen is very good as an FBI agent out of her depth and smart enough to know it. The investigation into a young woman found dead in the snow moves slowly, through cold houses and colder silences. Gil Birmingham, as her father Martin, gives the film its soul, and his scene sitting with Cory is devastating in its plainness. Graham Greene’s tribal police chief adds a dry, tired humor. Taylor Sheridan wants you to remember the Native women who go missing and are never counted, and you will. An 8.4 because it treats grief seriously and its people with respect. $79.97 says you pull on an extra layer tonight without quite knowing why.

What works: Gil Birmingham’s grieving father and Jeremy Renner’s restrained tracker anchor a patient, deeply felt investigation.

What doesn’t: The story of a Native community is mostly carried by two leads from outside it, and a sudden late shootout jolts the careful tone.

Who it’s for: Viewers who want a serious, slow-burning crime drama that respects the community at its center.