Wind River (2017)
91%RT Audience Score: 90%
Awards & Nominations: 15 wins & 26 nominations
Wind River lures viewers into a character-driven mystery with smart writing, a strong cast, and a skillfully rendered setting that delivers the bitter chill promised by its title.
Wind River is a movie that will leave you feeling like you just went on a rollercoaster ride of emotions. It’s a murder mystery thriller that also explores themes of family, loss, and compassion. And let’s not forget about Jeremy Renner’s impressive performance while rocking a pair of dungarees. But be warned, this movie is not for the faint of heart. It’s bleak, it’s intense, and it’s definitely not a tea towel kind of dialogue. So buckle up and get ready for a wild ride through the heartland.
Production Company(ies)
Ciné-tamaris Social Animals Rouge International,
Distributor
Weinstein Co.
Release Type
Streaming, Theatrical
Filming Location(s)
Wind River Indian Reservation, Wyoming, USA
MPAA / Certificate
Rated R for strong violence, a rape, disturbing images, and language
Year of Release
2017
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Dolby Digital
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Aspect ratio:2.35 : 1
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Runtime:1h 51m
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Language(s):English
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Country of origin:United States, United Kingdom, Canada
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Aug 18, 2017 Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Nov 14, 2017
Genre(s)
Drama/Crime
Keyword(s)
starring Jeremy Renner, Elizabeth Olsen, Gil Birmingham, Jon Bernthal, Julia Jones, Kelsey Asbille, directed by Taylor Sheridan, written by Taylor Sheridan, produced by Peter Berg, Wayne L Rogers, Matthew George, Basil Iwanyk, Elizabeth A Bell, drama, crime, mystery, thriller, R rating, box office gross $33.8M, reviewed by Michael Sragow, Sara Michelle Fetters, Ryan Gilbey, Tara Brady, Andrew Lowry, Simran Hans, Don Shanahan, Brian Eggert, Matt Brunson, starring in Eye in the Sky, The Drop, Elle, The
Worldwide gross: $44,202,682
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $53,318,870
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,298
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 5,814,490
US/Canada gross: $33,800,859
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $40,771,815
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,159
US/Canada opening weekend: $161,558
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $194,877
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,674
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): $11,000,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $13,268,597
Production budget ranking: 1,553
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $7,145,139
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): $32,905,133
ROI to date (est.): 161%
ROI ranking: 735
Elizabeth Olsen – Agent Jane Banner
Gil Birmingham – Martin Hanson
Jon Bernthal – Matt
Julia Jones – Wilma Lambert
Kelsey Asbille – Natalie Hanson
Director – Taylor Sheridan
Producer – Peter Berg, Wayne L. Rogers, Matthew George, Basil Iwanyk, Elizabeth A. Bell
Writer – Taylor Sheridan
Director(s)
Taylor Sheridan
Writer(s)
Taylor Sheridan
Producer(s)
Peter Berg, Wayne L. Rogers, Matthew George, Basil Iwanyk, Elizabeth A. Bell
Film Festivals
Sundance, Cannes
Awards & Nominations
15 wins & 26 nominations
Academy Awards
All Critics (255) | Top Critics (62) | Fresh (223) | Rotten (32)
Wind River ultimately aims to be an existential survival movie, but that aim is rarely true.
March 8, 2018
Michael Sragow
Film Comment Magazine
TOP CRITIC
Sheridan ends his story brilliantly, the last ten minutes a startling display of emotional elasticity that left me flabbergasted.
September 22, 2017 | Rating: 3/4
Sara Michelle Fetters
MovieFreak.com
TOP CRITIC
Most of the dialogue would look good on a series of commemorative tea towels. It certainly doesn’t belong on the lips of an actor as gifted as Renner.
September 14, 2017
Ryan Gilbey
New Statesman
TOP CRITIC
Wind River’s strong sense of place differentiates the film from the rest of the noir genre.
September 11, 2017 | Rating: 4/5
Tara Brady
Irish Times
TOP CRITIC
Taylor Sheridan’s flair for creating heartland epics is undimmed, but it’s hard not to wonder what someone with more directing chops, and the will to hit the accelerator, would have done with it.
September 11, 2017 | Rating: 3/5
Andrew Lowry
Empire Magazine
TOP CRITIC
Renner is on good form here (and rocking a hard-to-pull-off pair of dungarees) as the sensitive, protective Cory, and as a genre exercise, it works.
September 10, 2017 | Rating: 4/5
Simran Hans
Observer (UK)
TOP CRITIC
Through every snowflake and gunshot, Taylor Sheridan cuts to the marrow and keeps “Wind River” firmly on track with its layered stages of discovery.
June 26, 2022 | Rating: 4/5
Don Shanahan
Every Movie Has a Lesson
Wind River has the tonal sparsity of a Cormac McCarthy novel, the moral justice of a revisionist Western, and hits many beats that a detective procedural might.
March 17, 2022 | Rating: 3.5/4
Brian Eggert
Deep Focus Review
What can pass as a standard murder-mystery instead becomes a remarkably complex exploration of various malaises, including the agony of familial loss, the systematic disenfranchisement of Native Americans, and the ever-present evil of toxic masculinity.
September 19, 2021 | Rating: 3.5/4
Matt Brunson
Film Frenzy
Wind River almost defies genre definition. It’s ultimately a murder mystery thriller but it’s also a drama about family, loss, suffering, respect, and compassion.
August 25, 2021
Hosea Rupprecht
Pauline Center for Media Studies
This is a debut to be proud of.
May 4, 2021 | Rating: 3/5
Olly Richards
NME
‘Wind River’ paints a bleak picture, at times not bleak enough.
April 28, 2021 | Rating: 2.5/5
Michael J. Casey
Michael J. Cinema…
Plot
East of Boulder Flats, deep into the vast and unforgiving white territory of the Wind River Indian Reservation, the seasoned game tracker, Cory Lambert, discovers the frozen body of the young Native American, Natalie. As this is a federal crime, the F.B.I. dispatches the inexperienced but courageous agent Jane Banner to lead the investigation, however, the unprepared outsider will soon team up with Cory to unravel the mystery of Natalie’s murder. Before long, Cory will inevitably have to face his own past, while at the same time, both he and Jane are thirsting to see justice done. In the end, will this be a fruitful alliance?
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
Jeremy Renner and Elizabeth Olsen give “incredibly strong performances” in Wind River, according to an audience review on Fresh Kernels.
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