- Award Snub: Quite a few people felt that the film was overlooked come Oscar time for categories like Best Original Screenplay and Best Actor for Jeremy Renner. However, due to the film's unfortunate affiliations with The Weinstein Company and stiff competition, the film's chances were screwed. That being said, it did get a lot of good critical recognition and wound up on many critics top ten lists of 2017, so it wasn't a total loss.
- Broken Aesop: 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 arguably 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 and thus they 'deserved' to be murdered while the white Janenote somehow 'deserved' to live.
- Broken Base: Over Cory's status as a Mighty Whitey. While many reviewers acknowledge that the film brings up important and little understood issues regarding the treatment of Native Americans in modern America, they also feel that his status as a white savior detracts from the film's progressive message by sidelining the Arapaho characters in favor of yet another White Male Lead.
- Catharsis Factor: After the absolutely traumatic flashback to the rape scene followed by a brutal shootout in which most of the sympathetic deputies are horribly killed, it can be extremely therapeutic to see Cory methodically kill all of the security team in quick succession with his hunting rifle before giving Pete a well deserved Karmic Death.
- Harsher in Hindsight: The film, which centers around the investigation of a sexual assault, was put out by The Weinstein Company, whose co-founder Harvey Weinstein was made a Hollywood pariah once sexual harassment/assault allegations against him over the years were brought up against him two months after the movie's release. Weinstein's name was supposedly removed from the home video and streaming release, though they still appear in at least some versions on streaming channels.
- Jerkass Woobie: Chip. First he learns about his sister's death at an inopportune moment, from an unfortunate use of the past tense. Shortly afterwards, he gets a chance to rant about how his life turned out, and how drugs were pretty much the inevitable outcome. Cory counters that he still had opportunities to turn out better than he did.
- One-Scene Wonder:
- Tantoo Cardinal as Cory's mother-in-law. She helps Jane suit up for the cold, with a few unasked-for comments on her choice of underwear...then turns deadly serious when reminding her to bring the borrowed winter clothes back in good condition, as they belonged to her granddaughter Emily.
- Jon Bernthal as Natalie's boyfriend Matt in the flashback to Natalie's and his own murder.
- Questionable Casting: The film made an effort to cast Indigenous actors for the Arapaho characters, but the central role of Natalie is played by the mixed-race Kelsey Asbille. She claims blood descent from the Eastern Band Cherokee, but that tribe has stated that she is not a descendant of any official member of the tribe.
- Signature Scene: The flanking scene is talked about in the same veins as the border shootout from the film's Spiritual Predecessor Sicario, being an incredible example of tension-building in film.
- Spiritual Sequel: Forms a Spiritual Trilogy with Sheridan's films Sicario and Hell or High Water with its New Old West vibe, themes of revenge and personal loss, and focus on parts of America that are largely forgotten.
- The Woobie: Jane, Matt, and Natalie all suffer terribly for doing the right thing.
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