MEEK'S CUTOFF

Year: 2010
USA: Oscilloscope Pictures
UK: Soda Pictures
Cast: Michelle Williams, Bruce Greenwood, Will Patton, Paul Dano, Zoe Kazan, Shirley Henderson, Neal Huff, Rod Rondeaux, Tommy Nelson
Director: Kelly Reichardt
Country: USA
USA & UK: 104 mins
USA Rated: PG for some mild violent content, brief language, and smoking
UK Certificate: PG contains infrequent mild violence and language
USA Release Date: 8 April 2011 (Limited Release)
UK Release Date: 15 April 2011 (Limited Release)


Synopsis

The year is 1845, the earliest days of the Oregon Trail, and a wagon team of three families has hired the mountain man Stephen Meek to guide them over the Cascade Mountains. Claiming to know a short cut, Meek leads the group on an unmarked path across the high plain desert, only to become lost in the dry rock and sage.

Over the coming days, the emigrants must face the scourges of hunger, thirst and their own lack of faith in each other’s instincts for survival. When a Native American wanderer crosses their path, the emigrants are torn between their trust in a guide who has proven himself unreliable and a man who has always been seen as the natural enemy.

Official Selection
2010 Venice International Film Festival
2010 Toronto International Film Festival
2011 Sundance Film Festival