Wind River is a 2017 neo-Western murder mystery written and directed by Taylor Sheridan. It is set in the stark winter landscapes of Wyoming’s Wind River Indian Reservation. At its core is the story of two broken people – wildlife officer Cory Lambert (Jeremy Renner) and rookie FBI agent Jane Banner (Elizabeth Olsen) – who come together to investigate the murder of a young Native American woman named Natalie Hanson.
1. Plot Summary
The film opens with 18-year-old Natalie Hanson running barefoot in the snow at night. The next day, U.S. Fish & Wildlife agent Cory Lambert discovers Natalie’s frozen body miles from the Wind River Indian Reservation.
An autopsy reveals that Natalie was raped and died from exposure after fleeing her attackers. FBI agent Jane Banner is sent to investigate. She teams up with Cory, who knows the land and people well.
2. What Happened to Emily in Wind River?
Cory is still grieving his own daughter Emily’s unsolved death years prior. His daughter died under mysterious circumstances a few years prior. But there is no mention of any circumstances in the movie itself.
3. What Caused Natalie’s Death?
They learn Natalie had an older boyfriend who worked security for oil drillers near the reservation. They find his corpse too.
Cory and Jane slowly uncover clues suggesting Natalie was killed after stumbling upon a group of oil workers who had been drinking and using drugs. The workers gang raped her, and security guards were involved. One fled after Natalie escaped, while the others pursued and killed her.
4. Who Really Killed Natalie? Ending Explained
The film’s climax takes place after Cory Lambert (Jeremy Renner) tracks down Pete, the man responsible for raping and killing Natalie Hanson. Cory takes Pete up to the top of a snowy mountain peak and confronts him, forcing him to confess to his crimes against Natalie.
After Pete confesses, Cory cuts his restraints and gives him a chance to escape, telling him that Natalie ran six miles barefoot in the freezing cold before she died. Pete attempts to flee but only makes it about 600 feet before collapsing. He coughs up blood and dies from pulmonary hemorrhage caused by breathing in the frigid air, mirroring Natalie’s fate.
Cory buries Pete’s body in the snow, ensuring he faces a lonely death just as Natalie did. The film then shows FBI agent Jane Banner (Elizabeth Olsen) recovering in the hospital from her injuries. Cory visits her and praises her fortitude.
He then returns to Natalie’s father Martin and tells him that the man responsible for his daughter’s death “went out with a whimper.” The two men share in their grief over losing their daughters.
The film ends with an on-screen text stating that statistics are kept for every other demographic group except for missing Native American women. It highlights that this crisis goes largely ignored and unaddressed, despite the tragedy and loss it causes for families like Natalie’s. The ending implies that while justice was served for Natalie, many other similar cases remain unsolved and forgotten.
5. Is Wind River (2017) based on a true Story?
Wind River is not based on a single true story, but is inspired by the real-life issue of missing and murdered Indigenous women in the United States and Canada.
The writer and director Taylor Sheridan has stated in multiple interviews that the film is “based on thousands of actual stories just like it.” He wanted to shed light on the crisis of violence against Native American women, which often goes ignored and unaddressed.
Also Read: The Incredible True Story Behind the Film “True Spirit”
While the main plot about the murder investigation of a young Native woman named Natalie is fictional in Wind River, many elements of the film mirror real-life cases and struggles on reservations. This includes the lack of data and awareness of missing Native women, issues with jurisdiction over crimes on tribal lands, the influx of oil workers causing social problems, and more.
