Meek's Cutoff USA 2010 | 104 min | OV with German subtitles | Colour | FF 2020

[⏵] In her fourth film, Kelly Reichardt returns to the early days of the USA and gives the Western a female makeover. 1845, Oregon. Three families are heading westwards with their covered wagons. They have hired the trapper Meek (Bruce Greenwood) to guide them. He claims to be an expert for the region and takes them on an alleged short cut through a wasteland. After weeks of exhausting toil in the dusty heat, it becomes clear: they are lost in the prairie. Despair takes hold. When they take an Indian prisoner, only young Emily (Michelle Williams) is brave enough to approach the man. With skilful negotiation, she tries to persuade him to show the pioneers the way to a watering hole.