First Cow

Kelly Reichardt returns to the pioneer-era America of her 2010 feature Meek’s Cutoff with the heartfelt First Cow, adapted by Reichardt’s long-time collaborator Jon Raymond from his own novel. The story follows two men, newly arrived and immediately out of place in Oregon Country after running from a band of vengeful trappers. Their lives are suddenly changed by the arrival of a particularly elegant cow – the first in the territory – that they cleverly devise to use for their own fortune in the form of delicious-looking baked goods. This tenuous plan is soon disrupted, however, and Reichardt’s reliable lens tells a tale of an American dream that’s as delicately perceived and achingly felt as we’ve come to expect from the filmmaker.