Wind River  ★★★★

WRITER Taylor Sheridan has had a phenomenal run over the past three years.

A part-time actor and director of one little-known film (Vile in 2011) he was responsible for the scripts of Sicario in 2015 and Hell or High Water (2016), both among the best films of their respective release years.

Now he has written and directed another powerful and emotional drama in Wind River.

Set on a Native American reservation in Wyoming during a bitter winter, we initially meet Cory Lambert, a fisheries and wildlife officer, played by Jeremy Renner.

Lambert is responsible for protecting the reservation’s environment but also ensuring feral or dangerous animals are controlled. He is hunting a mountain lion that has killed livestock when he finds a woman’s barefoot body in the snow.

Because the body has been found on federal land the FBI is called in by the local sheriff.

The closest field agent is the relatively inexperienced Jane Banner, played by Elizabeth Olsen, who enlists the help of Lambert and the sheriff who know the land and local people.

The victim is known to both men and the coroner’s examination reveals she was raped, beaten and died from prolonged exposure to the extreme cold.

On one level Wind River is an extremely effective mystery that uses the treacherous environment and stunning locations to help ratchet the suspense.

But under the surface it is even more interesting as a study of grief and revenge within the particultural Native American cultural context.

As the mystery deepens Lambert’s back-story takes on greater meaning and resonance, building to an unsettling and thought-provoking climax.

There are beautiful moments of sadness and understanding, punctuated by explosive violence that make the film a moving and powerful experience.

Renner and Olsen have rarely been better and it’s always great to see Graham Greene who plays the sheriff.

While Olsen is very good perhaps the one failing of the film is that her character isn’t given the same depth and shade as Renner’s.

Still, it’s interesting to watch her FBI agent grow in stature similar to Jodie Foster’s Clarice Starling, the heroine of another superlative thriller Silence of the Lambs.

While Wind River ultimately may not have Lamb’s classic status, it’s engrossing throughout and offers a deeply felt look at the culture and ongoing struggles of the Native American people.

I can’t wait to see it again.