Oregon Trail to Hell

Movies: Meek's Cutoff

There are movies you go to for a good time, to be entertained, or to escape from reality. Meek's Cutoff is not one of them. Kelly Reichardt's sparse, bleak film is not meant to entertain or, I would argue, even "teach" the audience anything. Instead, Reichardt uses the medium of film to create a controlled, subtle artistic experience that, while not terrifying, has a persistent, lurking feeling of dread about it. Not exactly a popcorn movie.


Meek's Cutoff takes place in the Oregon desert in 1845. Eight settlers are making their way across the state, presumably to the Willamette Valley, and have chosen Stephen Meek--a showy braggart--as their guide. Meek claims to know a shortcut, but as the party travels further and further with no water in sight, they begin to realize that Meek probably doesn't know what he's talking about and may be leading them to certain death. Along the way, they capture a lone Native American man. Some of the party believe this man can lead them to water, while the others believe he will lead them into an ambush. So the driving plot of the film is 1) we need water and 2) whom do we follow and trust?

The barebones plot line allows Meek's Cutoff to be a showcase for acting. There are nine actors in the film: three married couples, plus Meek, plus the son of one of the couples, plus the Native American.
Bruce Greenwood chews the scenery as the flamboyant Meek, a Mountain Man-type with a grizzled beard and thousands of stories of questionable veracity. Michelle Williams gives a performance of quiet power as Emily Tetherow, the most outspoken of the three wives, whose wariness of Meek grows into outright hostility. In addition, Paul Dano and Zoe Kazan play a young couple who grow increasingly paranoid by the Native American in their custody. This is especially true of Kazan, who gives voice to the hysteria that must be part of all the settlers' thoughts.

Watching Meek's Cutoff takes great patience as it is incredibly slow-moving. Reichardt lingers on all the actions the settlers take, from starting fires in the early morning to lowering their wagons down a steep hill, and nothing is rushed. Much of the film is dialogue-free. All of this adds to a sense of helplessness and claustrophobia. In a world where we expect immediate answers and quick, easy solutions, the lives of the pioneers appears terrifying--not only because of the tangible dangers the settlers faced, but because of the crushing uncertainty. They are in the middle of an open desert and can see for miles, but if they pick the wrong path they will all die a slow, horrible death. To me, Meek's Cutoff is a horror film where nature is the killer and man has no one to blame but himself.

4 out of 5 stars