Wind River (2017), directed by Taylor Sheridan

A professional hunter and tracker in the wilds of Wyoming discovers the body of a young Native American woman in the snow, barefoot and bloodied. The find is doubly distressing as it echoes the disappearance of his daughter three years earlier. The FBI is called in to support the ridiculously under-resourced local police but the lone officer who arrives is a young and inexperienced woman based in Las Vegas. She is dedicated and enthusiastic, but woefully unprepared to deal with the extreme climate and the local culture. It’s a powerful story set in a rugged and isolated place, which touches on a lot of issues to do with native dispossession and cultural disintegration, grief, misogyny and violence. A shocking burst of violent action towards the end leads to a form of rough justice. Jeremy Renner and Elisabeth Olsen are totally convincing in the lead roles, although Renner’s tendency to mumble does detract from his performance. Olsen is note perfect as the FBI agent with a lot to learn. Inspired by real events, the film closes with a chilling statement that there are no statistics on the numbers of Native American women who are missing persons, so there is no knowing how often this kind of crime is committed.