History Film / WindRiver

* BrokenAesop: The film's criticism of the US Government's tepid response to violence against Native Americans and the lack of infrastructure and action towards protecting missing and murdered Indigenous women is ''heavily'' undermined by Cory's speech in the third act. His claims that there is no luck and only the strong survive inadvertently implies that Natives Natalie and Emily were both 'too weak'[[note]]despite Natalie running six miles barefoot in the snow[[/note]] and thus they 'deserved' to be murdered while the white Jane[[note]]who was consistently rescued by other, better-prepared characters and was airlifted to a hospital while those living on the reservation regularly face hour+ wait times for emergency medical care[[/note]] somehow 'deserved' to live.

* ExactWords: [[spoiler: At the end of the movie Cory says to Pete that if the latter confesses to his crimes "I'll give you a chance". Once Pete does so, Cory reveals that said chance is to run six miles through the wilderness to the nearest road in sub-zero weather while wounded, frostbitten and unsure of where he is. Needless to say Pete doesn't make it.]] See FalseReassurance below.

* GoingNative: Cory, a white man who married a Native American woman and fathered two kids with her. Even after [[spoiler:their daughter died]] and they got a divorce, he came to love the reservation, culture, and people so much he decided to stay. So much that he's actually the one to encourage her to stay on the Rez, let their son stay in touch with his maternal grandparents, and learn the ways of his people, while she's the one who's eager to cut and run.

* JurisdictionFriction: A major aspect of the film, considering it is set on tribal land and basically all the characters work for different agencies. Cory works for the US Fish & Wildlife Service and is basically operating as a Good Samaritan (he's a professional tracker who deals with predators that get too aggressive, not a peace officer), Jane for the FBI, Ben for the Wind River Tribal Police, they are later joined by two Fremont County Sheriff deputies and a few officers from the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Plus the private security contractors working for the oil company also mention that the land where the rig is is leased by ''another'' government agency, the US Department of Energy. The tension over who actually has jurisdiction over the drill site reaches fever pitch during the MexicanStandoff:

* MaleGaze: The movie gives us a good look at Jane's butt and her thong when Cory's mother-in-law comments on her choice of clothing.

* MoodWhiplash:
** The flashback, both within that scene and relative to the scenes before and after it.
** At the end of the movie, AssholeVictim [[spoiler:Pete]] is fleeing through the trees, panicked, armed with a LittleUselessGun, and absolutely unprepared to spend any length of time in [[SnowMeansDeath the Wind River Mountains in early spring]].[[note]]Or, as many people in the northern U.S. will know it, Still Winter.[[/note]] The audience, and most of the cast, know that a mountain lion has her den nearby, with two growing and hungry cubs, and [[ExitPursuedByaBear karmic justice]] seems imminent. [[spoiler:Pete]] hears a noise, whips around with his finger on the trigger, and sees...[[RidiculouslyCuteCritter a porcupine]]. Then [[spoiler:Cory comes up behind him and cold-cocks him with a rifle stock]].

* NaiveNewcomer: Jane is a rookie FBI agent, as well as not being very knowledgeable about either the laundry list of problems on the Rez or various aspects of native culture. This contrasts with Cory, who, while not native himself, married into and is respected by the tribe and is a very talented hunter.
* NeglectedRez: The [[TitleDrop Wind River]] Indian Reservation is the primary setting for the film and it suffers from extreme poverty, lawlessness, and absence of proper law enforcement.

* OffOnATechnicality: In a sense. Jane is not happy to learn that the coroner is legally required to put down Natalie's cause-of-death as [[spoiler:drowning in her own freezing blood]], when it's clear from the rest of the damage on her body that she ''was'' killed, because just short of putting "homicide" as the cause-of-death the [=FBI=] will not send the woefully understaffed Tribal Police Force any more aid. She turns it around, choosing to simply not report in so that she at least will not be reassigned and there's a chance the case will actually be solved.

* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: One of the security guards drops the "ol combine an environment with the N-word" epithet to insult Natalie.

* RevolversAreJustBetter:
** In keeping with the NewOldWest theme, hunter Cory carries a revolver as his sidearm, but subverted as he never uses it, and Jane and the other police officers carry standard-issue semiautomatic handguns.
** It's also played straight in the sense that Cory is a Fish and Wildlife Service Agent. He likely isn't carrying it to use against an assailant, rather to use in case he is attacked by a wild animal. Considering it's a Ruger Blackhawk, that was likely chambered in .44 Magnum, it would be much better suited than a 9 mm semi auto pistol for dealing with an attacking natural predator, especially if it's a large one.

* ActionGirl: Jane more than takes care of herself when the bullets start flying. [[spoiler:She fatally shoots Sam Littlefeather while [[HandicappedBadass blinded by bear spray]]. In the final shootout, she is the only member of the posse to land a killshot on the security team despite being laid out on the ground by a close-range shotgun blast to the chest only blocked by a door and a bulletproof vest. In spite of all that, she still needs to be rescued in the end]].

** This is taken further by his choice of snow camo when he's on the job, or whenever he's outdoors. If he was just concerned about hunting animals he'd likely wear high-visibility orange or something similar. He wears snow camo because if he decides he doesn't want to be seen by people, no one is going to see him. He clearly has full confidence in his camo, for when he takes down the corrupt security team he makes no effort to seek cover and stands right out in the open because he knows for certain they can't spot him. He's also completely calm, cool, and collected while killing them.

* ArmorIsUseless: Averted, then played straight. The body armor of the corrupt security team serves them well against the handguns of Jane and the deputies, but once Cory gets to work with his rifle loaded with heavy bear-killing rounds, they may as well be naked. He dispatches four of them with four shots in under thirty seconds.

* BeautyIsNeverTarnished:
** A mild example for Jane. By the end credits, apart from [[spoiler:lying in a hospital bed, she doesn't really look as if she's taken a shotgun blast to the torso. Still, her vest caught almost all of it, and the resulting bruises and stray pellet wounds probably weren't in places that would normally be visible to the public]]. What's really [[JustForFun/{{Egregious}} egregious]], though, is the absence of any lasting effects from getting bear-sprayed by Sam. No bloodshot eyes, no swollen eyelids, no mucus membranes in overdrive (although there is a VomitDiscretionShot). In all fairness, Ben was also bear-sprayed and he didn't suffer any lasting effects either.
** Thoroughly averted in Natalie's case, although only fleeting or partial views are shown of her body on the M.E.'s table.

* BottomlessMagazines: Averted, which results in the final gunfight pausing as everyone runs out of ammo and tries to reload.

* InstantDeathBullet:
** Realistically averted as no one dies instantly unless they're shot in the head or heart. Jane even [[MultipleGunshotDeath empties her sidearm into one suspect]] during a shootout and he doesn't die til a few seconds later.
** Played straight with Cory's high powered rifle, which also [[BlownAcrossTheRoom throws anyone hit by it several feet]].

->'''Cory Lambert:''' Oh, I don't know. How do you gauge someone's will to live, especially in these conditions? But I knew that girl. She's a fighter. So no matter how far you think she ran, I guarantee you she ran farther.

** This is taken further by his choice of snow camo when he's on the job, or whenever he's outdoors. If he was just concerned about hunting animals he'd likely wear high-visibility orange or something similar. He wears snow camo because if he decides he doesn't want to be seen by people, no one is going to see him. He clearly has full confidence in his camo, for when he takes down the corrupt security team he makes no effort to seek cover and stands right out in the open because he's knows for certain they can't spot him. He's also completely calm, cool, and collected while killing them.

* CriticalStaffingShortage: Ben Shoyo, the chief of the Wind River Tribal Police, has only 6 officers working for him to police an area the size of ''Rhode Island''. They have to rely on the neighbouring Fremont County Sheriff's Department for forensics and crime scene investigation, and towards the end also have to get two officers with the Bureau of Indian Affairs Police to join them to boost the numbers for when they attend the oil rig. [[spoiler: Even then they are almost outnumbered by the private security guards, allowing them to be massacred when things turn ugly]].

* PayEvilUntoEvil: [[spoiler: Cory dragging the wounded, frostbitten Pete up onto a freezing cold mountain peak, psychologically tormenting him before firing a gun next to his head and telling to run barefoot through the snow, and leaving him to die of exposure alone in the wilderness is undeniably brutal, but given that the latter is [[AssholeVictim a sniveling, cowardly rapist and murderer who makes lame excuses for his horrific crimes and pathetically begs for his life]] it's hard to feel like he didn't [[KarmicDeath get what was coming to him]].]]

* VigilanteExecution: [[PlayingWith Played with]]. [[spoiler: Cory doesn't kill Pete himself, but leaves him to die in what amounts to a hopeless situation, which he soon does.]]

* ThePlace: The movie takes place in the titular reservation.

* INeverSaidItWasPoison: [[spoiler: When Jane lies about Natalie filing a missing person report on Matt to give herself justification to investigate his quarters at the oil well, the head security asks how that could be when she's dead. Jane immediately gets suspicious because her body's identity was never announced over the radio.]]

* ExactWords: [[spoiler: At the end Cory says to Pete that if the latter confesses to his crimes "I'll give you a chance". Once Pete does so, Cory reveals that said chance is to run six miles through the wilderness to the nearest road in sub-zero weather while wounded, frostbitten and unsure of where he is. Needless to say said Pete doesn't make it.]] See FalseReassurance below.