Parents' Guide to Wind River

Actor-turned-screenwriter Taylor Sheridan makes his directorial debut with this smart, solid crime movie that, while not without its flaws, makes excellent use of open spaces and haunting quiet. Sheridan wrote two of cinema's sharpest recent crime stories, Sicario and Hell or High Water; he now adds Wind River to that list. All three films are set in lawless communities, like modern-day Westerns; this one uses its snowbound Wyoming passages to suggest that, if the characters go poking near danger, no one is coming to the rescue. A haunting score by Nick Cave and Warren Ellis helps set the tone.

The characters' restrained, stoic nature can make Wind River feel like it has skipped over certain details, simply because some things aren't discussed, but it's easy to forgive a movie that favors mood over chatty dialogue. Wind River gets into controversial territory by telling a Native American story with two white leads, but at least it's a well-told, intelligent, and respectful story, and the characters are interesting in and of themselves. They don't feel obligatory. And, as with his last two movies, Sheridan has something to say about the world here -- and he says it with compassion and without preaching.