Trailer for “Wind River” continues Taylor Sheridan’s Hollywood ascent

Over the weekend, Taylor Sheridan’s directorial debut Wind River took an Un Certain Regard prize at the Cannes Film Festival. Just a few days earlier, a First Trailer debuted for the flick. For fans of Sheridan as a writer, this represents a whole new ballgame. Already highly acclaimed for penning Sicario as well as the Oscar nominated script for Hell or High Water, he’s now a fully fledged filmmaker. After getting some strong notices at the Sundance Film Festival, the movie went on to Cannes and killed it there as well. Now, it get set to roll out at the end of the summer. You’ll be able to see the Trailer shortly, but first, as always, some discussion!

The film is a crime thriller, though as with all of Sheridan’s works, it’s more than initially meets the eye. Here, the story centers on the investigation of a murder on a Native American reservation. Almost all crimes on this land go unsolved, so when the FBI is brought in, Agent Jane Banner (Elizabeth Olsen) is initially in over her head. She recruits a veteran game tracker in Cory Lambert (Jeremy Renner) to help navigate the land. Of course, things aren’t as they appear and the danger is even greater than assumed. Sheridan writes and directs, so you know there’s more here than meets the eye. Also in the cast are Jon Bernthal, Gil Birmingham, Graham Greene, Julia Jones, Martin Sensmeier, and more. Warren Ellis contributes the score after also doing the same (with Nick Cave) on Hell or High Water. As for the cinematography, that’s being done by the underrated Ben Richardson.

From the looks of it, this movie will be a top notch procedural with some social commentary thrown in for good measure. Plus, both Olsen and especially Renner have gotten some solid notices. In particular, some have said that this is among Renner’s best performances ever. Interestingly, this represents a reunion for them after costarring a few years ago in Avengers: Age of Ultron. Throw in Sheridan bringing Birmingham over from Hell or High Water and Bernthal from Sicario and the cast is clearly top notch. Though the flick seems slightly smaller than the ones Sheridan just wrote, his direction is able to support his highly regarded writing. This seems like one to really look forward to. My hunch is that Wind River may struggle to do as well as Hell or High Water did with the Academy, though something closer to Sicario might be possible. Still, a campaign by The Weinstein Company is a sure thing, especially in light of the Cannes citation. Look for efforts in Best Picture, Best Director (for Sheridan), Best Actor (for Renner), Best Actress (for Olsen), Best Original Screenplay (also for Sheridan), Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing, and Best Original Score. It’s hard to say where this one fits in, though citations in Picture and Original Screenplay for Sheridan could make sense. A lot remains to be seen here, but as one of Cannes’ most highly regarded titles, it’s on the awards season map now.

You can see the Trailer for Wind River below, but obviously the big deal will be seeing it when it hits theaters in early August. If you loved either of Sheridan’s previous outings as a writer, it makes sense that this one as both a writer and a director should appeal to you as well. The ingredients are all there for something top notch, with festival reviews supporting that notion in a big way. Personally, I can’t wait to see it. In the meantime, check out the Trailer and sit tight for plenty more on this one over the coming months…

Here now is the First Trailer for Wind River: