Long before Taylor Sheridan’s name became virtually synonymous with television Westerns, the Dutton Ranch creator was carving out an extraordinarily strong run of big-screen thrillers. After writing Sicario and Hell or High Water, Sheridan stepped behind the camera himself for a bleak murder mystery set in the frozen wilderness of Wyoming. Throw Jon Bernthal into the equation, and you’ve basically got Yellowstone colliding with The Punisher.
Wind River, now charting on Netflix in numerous territories, is a chilling thriller that follows a rookie FBI agent who teams up with a local game tracker with deep community ties and a haunted past to investigate the murder of a local girl on a remote Native American Reservation in the hopes of solving the mysterious death. The film is a collision of Marvel Cinematic Universe stars crossed with the immense supporting cast of Sheridan’s future television empire.
The movie stars Jeremy Renner (The Hurt Locker) as Cory Lambert, Elizabeth Olsen (WandaVision) as Jane Banner, Gil Birmingham (Yellowstone) as Martin Hanson, Jon Bernthal (The Punisher) as Matt, Julia Jones (Dexter: New Blood) as Wilma Lambert, Kelsey Asbille (Yellowstone) as Natalie Hanson, James Jordan (Landman) as Pete Mickens and Ian Bohen (Yellowstone) as Evan.
Collider Exclusive · Sci-Fi Survival Quiz Which Sci-Fi World Would You Survive? The Matrix · Mad Max · Blade Runner · Dune · Star Wars
Five universes. Five completely different ways the future went wrong — or sideways, or up in flames. Only one of them is the world your instincts were built for. Eight questions will figure out which dystopia, galaxy, or desert wasteland you’d actually make it out of alive.
💊The Matrix
🔥Mad Max
🌧️Blade Runner
🏜️Dune
🚀Star Wars
01
You sense something is deeply wrong with the world around you. What do you do? The first instinct is often the truest one.
02
In a world of scarcity, what resource do you guard most fiercely? What we protect reveals what we believe survival actually requires.
03
What kind of threat keeps you up at night? Fear is useful data — if you’re honest about what you’re actually afraid of.
04
How do you deal with authority you don’t trust? Every dystopia has a power structure. Your approach to it determines everything.
05
Which environment could you actually endure long-term? Survival isn’t just tactical — it’s physical, psychological, and very much about where you are.
06
Who do you want in your corner when things fall apart? The company you keep is the clearest signal of who you actually are.
07
Where do you draw the line — if you draw one at all? Every survivor eventually faces a moment that tests what they’re actually made of.
08
What would actually make survival worth it? Staying alive is one thing. Having a reason to is another.
Your Fate Has Been Calculated You’d Survive In…
Your answers point to the world your instincts were built for. This is the universe your temperament, your survival instincts, and your particular brand of stubbornness were made for.
The Resistance, Zion
The Matrix
You took the red pill a long time ago — probably before anyone offered it to you. You’re a systems thinker who can’t help but notice the seams in things.
You’re drawn to understanding how the system works before figuring out how to break it.
You’d find the Resistance, or it would find you — your instinct for spotting constructed realities is the machines’ worst nightmare.
You function best when you have access to information and the freedom to act on it.
The Matrix built an airtight prison. You’d be the one probing the walls for the door.
The Wasteland
Mad Max
The wasteland doesn’t reward the clever or the well-connected — it rewards those who are hard to kill and harder to break. That’s you.
You don’t need comfort, community, or a cause larger than the next horizon.
You need a vehicle, a clear threat, and enough fuel to outrun it — and you’re good at all three.
You are unsentimental enough to survive that world, and decent enough — just barely — to be something more than another raider.
In the wasteland, that distinction is everything.
Los Angeles, 2049
Blade Runner
You’d survive here because you know how to exist in moral grey areas without losing yourself completely.
You read people accurately, keep your circle small, and ask the questions others prefer not to answer.
In a city where humanity is a legal designation rather than a feeling, you hold onto something that keeps you functional.
You’re not a hero. But you’re not lost, either.
In Blade Runner’s world, that distinction is everything.
Arrakis
Dune
Arrakis is the most hostile environment in the known universe — and you are precisely the kind of person it rewards.
Patience, discipline, and political awareness are your core strengths — and on Arrakis, they’re survival tools.
You understand that the long game matters more than any single victory.
Others come to Dune and are consumed by it. You’d learn its logic and earn its respect.
In time, you wouldn’t just survive Arrakis — you’d begin to reshape it.
A Galaxy Far, Far Away
Star Wars
The galaxy far, far away is vast, loud, and in a constant state of violent political upheaval — and you wouldn’t have it any other way.
You find meaning in being part of something larger than yourself — a cause, a crew, a rebellion.
You’d gravitate toward the Rebellion, or the fringes, or whatever pocket of the galaxy still believes the Empire’s grip can be broken.
You fight — not because you have to, but because standing aside isn’t something you’re capable of.
In Star Wars, that willingness is what makes all the difference.
How Successful Was ‘Wind River’?
Although Wind River was a modest box office success for Sheridan, it was one of the most acclaimed thrillers of 2017 and currently holds an impressive 87% score on Rotten Tomatoes from 250 reviews, alongside an even stronger 90% audience score. The site’s critical consensus praised Sheridan’s character-driven mystery, writing, cast and use of the bleak Wyoming landscape. Critics had particular praise for the performances of Renner and Olsen in the lead roles, the slow-burning tension of the story and the exceptional use of the bleak Wyoming surroundings, which simply added to the atmosphere.
Sheridan also received particular recognition for his first directorial effort, as the movie competed in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival, where Sheridan won the Best Director award. Commercially, it punched well above its weight. Wind River earned $33.8 million in the United States alone against a reported production budget of around $11 million, ultimately reaching roughly $44 million worldwide. Combined with its reviews and Cannes win, that made Sheridan’s move into directing a pretty emphatic success.
Wind River is streaming now on Netflix in international territories.
Release Date
August 18, 2017
Runtime
107 minutes
Producers
Basil Iwanyk, Matthew George, Peter Berg, Elizabeth A. Bell, Wayne L. Rogers
