Review: Wind River - Outstanding crime thriller fuelled by remarkable Renner!

With a feast of big budget Hollywood blockbusters, armed with monstrous marketing campaigns being thrust to the cinema going public on a weekly basis, sometimes we tend to overlook that hidden gem that doesn't have the luxury of a mega media campaign and aggressive promotion.
Wind River is one of those exemplary films that although may not receive the mass attention, will undoubtedly stand side by side with the very best films of 2017.
This chilling thriller follows a rookie FBI agent (played by Elizabeth Olsen) who teams up with a local hunter with deep community ties and a haunted past (played by Jeremy Renner) to investigate the murder of a local girl on a remote Native American Reservation in the hopes of solving the cause of her mysterious death.
From the pen of Taylor Sheridan, an immensely talented screenwriter whose two previous writing credits were both superb films (Sicario and  Hell or High Water) this haunting film was Sheridan's first outing as director and he was not found wanting.
A somewhat slow paced first act just adds to the atmosphere of this heartland epic whose subtlety in it's underwritten dialogue, breathtaking cinematography and understated yet powerful performances from its cast only elevate the sense of loss, brutality, loneliness and social injustice that are at the core of this magnificent film.
Jeremy Renner in particular is outstanding, bringing a sombre nuance to the compelling central character and he is ably assisted by some strong supporting performances from Elizabeth Olsen and Gil Bermingham.
Overall this excellent feature not only plays as a social political drama but doubles up as an extremely effective crime thriller set against a sombre and chilling background (not unlike some of Hollywood's Scandinavian counterparts) ,making it a film that may fly under the radar but is to be missed at your peril. Excellent!
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