First Cow

Kelly Reichardt follows Robert Bresson’s example and makes her own version of Au Hasard Balthazar: instead of a donkey passed around from person to person, there’s a single cow—the first to appear in 19th-century Oregon. While its wealthy British owner needs only a splash of milk for his afternoon tea, a couple of itinerant hustlers, including a Chinese immigrant (Orion Lee) and a shy, aspiring baker named Cookie (John Magaro from Orange Is the New Black), have something a bit different in mind when they sneak up on the peaceful animal at night. Soon thereafter, trappers looking for a better life are lining up to sample their illegal baked goods. In the weirdest western of all time, which enchanted audiences at this year’s Berlin festival, Reichardt once again overwhelms viewers with the tenderness with which she treats her protagonists, including the slightly hairier ones, as she shows how the Wild West really was won—at times through force, at times through illicit cookies.