“Wind River ”ending defined: What actually occurred to Natalie?

• Wind River follows an investigation into the tragic loss of life of a younger Indigenous lady, Natalie.
• The 2017 movie was written by Yellowstone creator Taylor Sheridan and stars Jeremy Renner and Elizabeth Olsen.
• A sequel, Wind River: The Subsequent Chapter, has already been filmed.

Taylor Sheridan has made a reputation for himself with gritty, character-driven tales rooted within the American West. You may know him because the co-creator of Yellowstone and several other different hit sequence — together with 1883, 1923, and Mayor of Kingstown — however he started his writing profession in movie, even scoring an Academy Award nomination for his script to 2016's Hell or High Water.

In 2017, he collaborated with future Mayor of Kingstown star Jeremy Renner on Wind River, a tense thriller set on the Wind River Indian Reservation in Wyoming.

Renner stars as U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service agent Cory Lambert, who groups up with FBI particular agent Jane Banner (Elizabeth Olsen) to research the homicide of a younger Indigenous lady named Natalie.

Under, we're breaking down Wind River's haunting ending, together with what actually occurred to Natalie and what we learn about its upcoming sequel.

What’s Wind River about?

Set throughout a harsh Wyoming winter, Wind River opens on the distant Wind River Indian Reservation, the place Lambert (Renner) makes a grim discovery: the frozen physique of 18-year-old Natalie Hanson (future Yellowstone star Kelsey Asbille), a member of the Northern Arapaho tribe.

Lambert alerts the authorities, prompting the arrival of FBI agent Banner (Olsen), who rapidly guidelines it a murder.

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As Banner begins piecing collectively the circumstances round Natalie's loss of life, she visits the Hanson household. There, Natalie's father, Martin (Gil Birmingham), reveals that his daughter had not too long ago began seeing somebody new, although he by no means discovered the younger man's identify.

What occurred to Natalie in Wind River?

Natalie's post-mortem reveals indicators of rape and blunt power trauma, nevertheless it's Lambert who appropriately deduces the official reason behind loss of life: pulmonary hemorrhage from inhaling the freezing air whereas fleeing by means of the snow.

Regardless of the clear indicators of foul play, the health worker (Eric Lange) refuses to categorise the loss of life as a murder, which prevents Banner from getting backup from the FBI.

Undeterred, Banner continues the investigation with assist from tribal police chief Ben Shoyo (Graham Greene) and Lambert. Lambert's willpower is fueled by the unsolved loss of life of his personal daughter, Emily, below comparable circumstances.

Their search leads them to Natalie's brother, Chip (Martin Sensmeier), who initially stays silent however finally offers up the identify of her boyfriend, Matt Rayburn (Jon Bernthal), a safety guard at a close-by oil drilling website.

Earlier than studying Matt's identification, nonetheless, Lambert and Banner had already stumbled upon his bare, mutilated physique within the snow.

Later, Banner, Shoyo, and a bunch of officers head to the distant oil drilling website the place Matt labored. There, they're met by the top of safety, Curtis (Hugh Dillon), together with a number of guards. From the beginning, their habits raises crimson flags. Not solely do they declare Matt left days in the past after a dispute with Natalie, however one guard even mentions Natalie's physique being discovered.

Banner instantly factors out that Natalie's identification hasn't been launched to the general public, and that's when issues begin to worsen. Earlier than we see what occurs subsequent, although, a flashback reveals the occasions main as much as Natalie's loss of life.

Matt's coworkers, below the affect, barged into his trailer whereas he and Natalie have been collectively. A confrontation broke out, escalating into brutality. One of many guards, Pete (James Jordan), sexually assaults Natalie, and the remaining beat Matt to loss of life. Amid the violence, Natalie manages to flee and makes a determined try to achieve her brother’s dwelling.

What occurs on the finish of Wind River?

Again within the current, Lambert tracks footprints within the snow from Matt's physique again to the drilling website.

As Banner and the crew transfer on Pete's trailer, Pete fires a shotgun by means of the door, wounding Banner and triggering a shootout that kills Shoyo and different officers.

Because the remaining guards put together to complete off a wounded Banner, Lambert intervenes from a distance, taking out a number of of them together with his rifle. Pete escapes into the wilderness, however Lambert catches and restrains him.

Lambert brings Pete to Gannett Peak, excessive within the mountains. There, Pete confesses to his position within the savagery that led to Natalie and Matt’s deaths.

Exhibiting no sympathy, Lambert removes Pete's restraints and tells him to run for his life within the snow, simply as Natalie did. Pete makes an attempt to flee however rapidly dies because of the subzero air.

Within the aftermath, Lambert visits Banner within the hospital, commending her braveness. He later meets up with Martin, and so they sit in silence, united in grief over the lack of their daughters.

The movie closes with a stark title card: "Whereas lacking individual statistics are compiled for each different demographic, none exist for Native American girls. Nobody is aware of what number of are lacking."

Is Wind River primarily based on a real story?

The movie opens with a title card that reads, "Impressed by precise occasions." In a 2017 interview with NPR’s Scott Simon, Sheridan defined that he was motivated to put in writing Wind River after studying concerning the staggering variety of Indigenous girls who’ve gone lacking or been victims of violent crimes.

"It's primarily based on 1000’s of precise tales similar to it," he mentioned. "This challenge with sexual assault in opposition to girls on the reservation — I imply, it's existed for the reason that inception of a reservation system. However, actually, up to now 15, 20 years, it's exploded. And it will get no consideration, which is the motivation for writing the movie."

Will there be a Wind River sequel?

In November 2022, The Hollywood Reporter reported that Kari Skogland (The Falcon and the Winter Soldier) had signed on to direct a sequel to Wind River. The sequel, Wind River: The Subsequent Chapter, is claimed to shift focus to Natalie's brother, Chip Hanson (Sensmeier).

In line with the synopsis, "Terror escalates on the Wind River reservation as a sequence of ritualistic murders stay unsolved. The FBI enlists Hanson, a newly minted tracker for the U.S. Fish & Recreation, who turns into embroiled in a determined and harmful struggle between the authorities, a vigilante, and the Reservation he calls dwelling."

Birmingham additionally returns as Martin Hanson, becoming a member of a brand new ensemble solid that features Jason Clarke, Scott Eastwood, and Kali Reis, amongst different notable names.

Wind River: The Subsequent Chapter reportedly accomplished filming in 2023, however a launch date has not but been introduced. In a January 2025 interview with ScreenRant, Reis admitted she's nonetheless ready for updates herself. " simply as a lot as I do, sadly," she mentioned. "I’m actually enthusiastic about Wind River 2, as nicely. So simply preserve your eye out for it, and I can't wait to share it with the world."

The place can I watch Wind River?

Wind River is at the moment streaming on Netflix.

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