History Film / WindRiver

* StealthHiBye: When [[spoiler:Pete]] is fleeing through the snow, he stops to look round him, turning a full circle. As he gets back to where he started, he finds Cory standing there.

* NeverMyFault: When confronted by [[spoiler:Corey, Pete blames the [[GoMadFromTheIsolation loneliness]] and hostile environment for his actions rather than take responsibility for them. Considering [[SnowMeansDeath where he is]] and the shape he's in when he says this, it's possible to see where he's coming from, but it still comes across as pathetic and inexcusable.]]

'''[[FridgeHorror "Nobody knows how many are missing."]]'''

* NeverMyFault: When confronted by [[spoiler:Corey, Pete blames the [[GoMadFromTheIsolation loneliness]] and hostile environment for his actions rather than take responsibility for them. Considering [[SnowMeansDeath where he is]] and the shape he's in when he says this, it's possible to see where he's coming from (with a telescope, on a clear day), but it still comes across as pathetic and inexcusable.]]

* MexicanStandoff: [[spoiler:A deputy notices the drill security suspiciously flanking them, leading to him and quickly everyone else drawing their weapons on each other. Jane ends tensions by emphasizing her federal authority and holstering her gun first, which unfortunately leads to Ben and the other deputies all being gunned down a few moments later.]]

* PoliceAreUseless: Very downplayed and justified. The tribal police help as much as they can, but it's made clear multiple times that they are simply undermanned for such a large area.

* PrivateMilitaryContractors: Well technically they are ''security'' contractors, but the amount of firepower they are shown to have with them seems more fitting to go into a warzone than for providing security for an isolated oil rig in Wyoming.

* ProperlyParanoid: When the murder investigators are talking to the local oil company security guards, one of the deputies suddenly draws his gun on the security guards and accuses them of trying to flank him. Jane ultimately dismisses his concerns to de-escalate the situation. [[spoiler:However, his accusation is revealed to be completely true, and the security guards really are preparing to ambush the investigators]].

** 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 predator.

* RuleOfSymbolism: Cory is a hunter whose job is to track and shoot wild predators to protect livestock. His role in the story is to help law enforcement hunt down a metaphorical predator [[spoiler:or predator''s'', as it turns out]] to protect human innocents.

* WretchedHive: Wind River, [[TruthInTelevision like most Native American reservations]], is extremely poor, with high levels of drug and alcohol abuse and violent crime and an almost non-existent police force due to neglect from the federal government. Only adding to the misery is the weather: this movie is set in springtime, and yet the cold remains constantly life-threatening.

* 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, 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. The 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 becomes apparent during the MexicanStandoff:

* NaiveNewcomer: Jane is a rookie as an FBI agent, as well as not being very knowledgeable about either the laundry list of problems on TheRez 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.

The film stars Creator/JeremyRenner and Creator/ElizabethOlsen as a US Fish and Wildlife hunter Cory Lambert and FBI agent Jane Banner respectively who team up with local police to solve a murder of a young woman on the Wind River Indian Reservation in Wyoming. Like many of Sheridan's films, ''Wind River'' draws off of Western iconography in a modern setting to cast light on contemporary issues: in this case, the ongoing neglect of Native Americans by the U.S. federal government and the resulting problems of poverty, drug abuse, and violence.

* GoodGunsBadGuns: Cory uses a lever-action rifle fitting the NewOldWest setting. Sort of justified in that actor Jeremy Renner is left-handed and lever-action rifles are regarded as excellent firearms for ambidextrous use compared to other actions. [[spoiler:The drill security has an automatic (or heavily modified) rifle they use to ruthlessly mow down the police, contrasting markedly with Cory's precise, quick kills. Sam Littlefeather also opens fire on Jane with a shotgun, forcing her to put him down with her pistol.]]

* DirtyCoward: [[spoiler: Pete, spends most of the shootout cowering in his trailer. After Cory kills the last of his friends, he makes a run for it.]]

* BittersweetEnding: All the bad guys die and Cory and Jane survive but at the cost of the entire towns police force.

* GoodGunsBadGuns: Cory uses a lever-action rifle fitting the NewOldWest setting. [[spoiler:The drill security has an automatic (or heavily modified) rifle they use to ruthlessly mow down the police, contrasting markedly with Cory's precise, quick kills. Sam Littlefeather also opens fire on Jane with a shotgun, forcing her to put him down with her pistol.]]

* RedHerring: [[spoiler:As information about Natalie's unmet boyfriend is revealed--namely, that he is a white security officer from off the rez at least a decade her senior--the characters and audience are increasingly led to believe he was the assailant... until his body is also discovered in the snow. A flashback reveals Matt to be a genuinely good guy who gave his life trying to protect Natalie.]]

** The flashback, both [[CrowningMomentofHeartwarming within]] [[NightmareFuel that scene]] and relative to the scenes before and after it.

* {{Fanservice}}: About a minute after Jane is introduced, she is shown changing into warmer clothes and we get a lovely (and gratuitous) [[PantyShot shot of her butt in a thong]].

* ParentalNeglect: Subverted. Jane is shocked to learn Natalie's parents didn't notice or report her being missing because they had let her move in with her white boyfriend whose name they didn't even know. And he seems almost emotionless in response to her death. However, [[spoiler:this turns out to be a case of Culture Clash, since Wind River elders trust their teenage children to make their own decisions regarding their lives, and he deliberately hides his emotions when dealing with a suspicious outsider. When he talks to Cory, by contrast, he immediately breaks down sobbing.]]

* ParentalNeglect: Subverted. Jane is shocked to learn Natalie's parents didn't notice or report her being missing because they had let her move in with her white boyfriend whom they had never met and whose name they didn't even know. However, [[spoiler:this turns out to be a case of Culture Clash, since Wind River elders trust their teenage children to make their own decisions regarding their lives. When Jane realizes just how devastated Natalie's parents are over the news of her death, she's duly ashamed of herself.]]

* 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.

* 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, and towards the end also liaise with some members of the Bureau of Indian Affairs Police.

* TheSheriff: Ben is the head of law enforcement for the entire Wind River reservation, responsible for a territory as large as Rhode Island, though technically his title is Police Chief rather than Sheriff.

The film stars Creator/JeremyRenner and Creator/ElizabethOlsen as a US Fish and Wildlife hunter Cory Lambert and FBI agent Jane Banner respectively who team up with local police to solve a murder of a young woman on the Wind River Indian Reservation in Wyoming. Like many of Sheridan's films, ''Wind River'' draws off of Western iconography in a modern setting to cast light on contemporary issues: in this case, the ongoing neglect of Native Americans by the U.S. federal government and the resulting problems of poverty, drug abuse, and violence that ensue.

* TheSociopath: [[spoiler: The guys at the drill site seem normal enough upon cursory inspection, but quickly begin to come off as brusque and creepy, particularly the lead one. They all tried to gangrape a woman, beat her boyfriend to death when he tried to stop them, (worth noting is the implication that they all apparently knew the two of them reasonably well beforehand, too) and seem to have decided that ''killing five cops'' in a western-style shootout is the only way to avoid incrimination and prison time. (Which itself is a ludicrous and short-sighted conclusion to make.)]]