“Wind River” is one of 2017’s most powerful films – unflinchingly intense and beautiful to behold, a poignant and provocative thriller that is equal parts murder mystery, social commentary, and melancholy meditation on family, love, and loss. Written and directed by Taylor “Hell Or High Water” Sheridan, and filmed in the central Wyoming mountain range for which the movie is named, “Wind River” unfolds in quietly tense fashion, mirroring the icy snow that blankets this movie’s bleak landscape – cold, deep, spare, and unforgiving.

The story. Stetson-hat-sporting Jeremy Renner (of Avengers and Bourne IV fame) stars as Cory Lambert, a haunted snow-machine driving U.S. Fish And Game warden and self-described “hunter” who manufacturers his own bullets to track and kill the myriad four-legged predators – coyotes, wolves, and mountain cats – who molest local ranch sheep and cattle during the long dark Wind River winters. As the story opens, he is called upon to investigate a mysterious murder: a young native woman, her frozen lungs burst from intense cold, is discovered dead in the wintry Wyoming wilderness, lying face-down in the snow miles from civilization. Signs of foul play are apparent, but her back story remains elusive – how the hell did she manage to travel six miles on foot in the midst of winter? Attractive young FBI agent Jane Banner (Elizabeth Olsen) soon arrives on the reservation to spearhead the murder investigation with Lambert, partnering with the tribal police chief (Graham Greene).

Fifteen minutes in, this story could have gone the way modern Hollywood movies featuring cowboys and Indians often go– the heroic white guy saves the Indians, solves the rez murder, gets the girl, and rides off into the sunset. Fortunately, Sheridan doesn’t bow to celluloid convention, instead weaving together a powerful and sensitive tale of intercultural friendship, family loyalty, grief, and loss. To say much more would give away the ghosts, of which there are many in this film. Suffice to say, Sheridan stitches together “Wind River” by marrying the harsh beauty of the Wyoming winter with thoughtful, spare dialogue, infusing each of his scenes with plenty of breathing room for all of his characters to crawl into and inhabit. This refreshing tendency, punctuated by moments of emotional intensity and violent action, exhaust the viewer by movie’s end, as Sheridan quietly and consistently goes for the jugular.

To wit: the North American continent’s once-ubiquitous native inhabitants are now, in our 21^st century, its most isolated and destitute – poverty, alcoholism, drug abuse, and hopelessness run rampant across US “reservations.” Native women, in particular, find themselves at the bottom of the totem pole. And yet, indigenous families endure, and young native people find creative ways “off the rez,” despite the many challenges and limitations thrown in their way. That Sheridan manages to explore all of these issues within the context of an intercultural murder mystery like “Wind River” is an impressive achievement, and well worth seeing.