The Big Picture

  • Taylor Sheridan's work combines elements of neo-noir, Western, thriller, and political satire in his "hard genre" narratives.
  • While his films are often subversive, there is a classical "dad movie" quality to Sheridan's work.
  • Hell or High Water is the most entertaining and impactful film of Sheridan's career, showcasing his ability to create empathy for unlikeable characters.

Modern Western drama series Yellowstone has become the flagship property of Paramount’s slate of TV shows, with two prequel series, 1883 and 1923. While the conflicts and crises of the Dutton family have become so popular thanks to the talented ensemble, the show’s success can be credited to the mind of writer Taylor Sheridan.

Sheridan has quickly become one of Hollywood’s most popular scribes, and beyond Yellowstone, he has the Paramount+ series Mayor of Kingston and Tulsa King. Sheridan fits a unique niche within modern screenwriters and showrunners, incorporating elements of neo-noir, Western, thriller, and political satire into his “hard genre” narratives. While his work is often subversive, there’s a classical “dad movie” quality to Sheridan’s work that has jettisoned him to prominence.

Sheridan’s cinematic work is just as fascinating, as he’s written for other great directors and stepped behind the camera himself. Here is every movie written by Taylor Sheridan, ranked.

6. Without Remorse

Release Date: April 30, 2021

Michael B. Jordan as John Clark in Without Remorse
Image via Prime Video

Without Remorse saw Sheridan adapting the work of Jack Ryan creator Tom Clancy, but the U.S. Navy Seal John Kelly (Michael B. Jordan) is a far different character than the CIA analyst. While the Ryan films and series found a certain charm in placing a geeky desk worker behind enemy lines, Without Remorse is a straight-up military action thriller, and as the title suggests it certainly fits the “no prisoners” mentality. Jordan gives a transformative physical performance, and director Stefano Sollima delivers a grizzly portrayal of modern combat.

It’s an impressively made thriller, but the story is disappointingly nothing more than a standard revenge thriller. Sheridan doesn’t offer much insight beyond “everyone is corrupt and you should take the law into your own hands.” Despite Jordan’s commitment, Kelly isn’t a particularly interesting character; he’s grieving and wants revenge, and that’s pretty much it. The third act reveals are particularly tedious, although there is a great hammy Guy Pearce performance.

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5. Those Who Wish Me Dead

Release Date: May 5, 2021

Angelina Jolie in the Taylor Sheridan movie, Those Who Wish Me Dead.
Image via Warner Bros.

Sheridan’s second film as a director saw him take a step up with his budget. While his debut Wind River felt very much like an isolated neo-noir, and while Those Who Wish Me Dead certainly isn’t a blockbuster, it’s closer in narrative to some of the more grounded Sylvester Stallone vehicles of the 1990s (Copland and Cliffhanger in particular). The film follows Hannah (Angelina Jolie), a Montana smoke jumper who protects a young child (Finn Little) from a pair of assassins (Aidan Gillen and Nicholas Hoult).

There are two interesting movies in Those Who Wish Me Dead, and unfortunately, Sheridan doesn’t really commit to either. On one hand, you have over-the-top bad guys and a plethora of fun action sequences that come out of firefighting technology. On the other hand, you have a sensitive performance by Jolie as Hannah processes her grief. Those Who Wish Me Dead is compulsively watchable, but it's not quite goofy enough to be a 90s throwback or focused enough to be an elevated neo-noir.

Those Who Wish Me Dead
Thriller
Documentary
Western

A teenage murder witness finds himself pursued by twin assassins in the Montana wilderness with a survival expert tasked with protecting him -- and a forest fire threatening to consume them all.

Release Date
May 5, 2021
Director
Taylor Sheridan
Runtime
100

Watch on Max

4. Sicario: Day of the Soldado

Release Date: June 27, 2018

Josh Brolin, Jeffrey Donovan, and Benicio del Toro as Matt, Steve, and Alejandro looking at something off-camera in Sicario: Day of the Soldado.
Image via Sony Pictures Releasing

Sicario: Day of the Soldado is a fascinating sequel. The film ditches the meticulous, finely crafted suspense of Denis Villeneuve’s original altogether, and the absence of cinematographer Roger Deakins is particularly felt. Director Stefano Sollima isn’t one for subtlety and replaces the slow-building tension with explosive blood-spattered violence that falls into borderline exploitive territory. It was also noteworthy for the absence of the original Sicario’s lead protagonist, Kate Macer (Emily Blunt).

Day of the Soldado centers entirely on the titular “sicario” Alejandro (Benicio del Toro), and his relationship with C.I.A. operative Matt Graver (Josh Brolin). Compared to Without Remorse, Day of the Soldado is a much more interesting take on the banality of violence within the modern American West. Both Alejandro and Graver are straight-up villainous, and they’re surrounded by a world of perpetual violence where all morality is grey. It strains believability heavily within the third act once Alejandro grows literally indestructible, but the chilling closing scene makes for a somber reflection on the cyclical violence.

Sicario: Day Of The Soldado
R
Thriller
Action
Crime
Documentary
Release Date
June 27, 2018
Director
Stefano Sollima
Runtime
122

Watch on Hulu

Related
Every Taylor Sheridan Project Ranked
How do movies like Sicario and Wind River stack up against Yellowstone?

3. Wind River

Release Date: January 21, 2017

Sheridan has flirted with political commentary throughout his filmography, but his directorial debut Wind River is his most overt “message movie.” There are still enough mystery and thriller elements for it to fall under the “genre” movie label, but Sheridan’s focus is on exploring the issue of Indigenous women who are raped and murdered in reservation communities. Although telling the story from an outsider’s perspective may be a problematic choice, Sheridan shows a refreshing restraint in a very impressive first feature.

Wind River follows the investigation into the murder of a teenage girl on the Wind River Indian Reservation in Wyoming. Rookie FBI Agent Jane Banner (Elizabeth Olsen) is tasked with scoping the area, and enlists the local tracker Cory Lambert (Jeremy Renner) to assist her. Olsen feels somewhat miscast and uncomfortable with Sheridan’s dialogue, but Renner delivers the most sensitive performance of his career as a grieving father healing through his work. Although there’s not enough time paid to the Indigenous perspective, Gil Birmingham delivers a devastating performance as the girl’s father.

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2. Sicario

Release Date: September 17, 2015

Emily Blunt in 'Sicario'
Image via Lionsgate

If any of Sheridan’s work falls into the category of “elevated” genre fare, then it's Sicario. Of all of his films, Sicario feels the most drastically changed because of the director. Denis Villeneuve reels in Sheridan’s bluntness to craft a claustrophobic, nauseating aura of suspense. Sequences such as the opening safe house raid or the highway shootout may have seemed straightforward on paper, but Villeneuve transforms what could’ve been generic set pieces into moments of paranoia.

While the absence of a compelling character in Day of the Soldado made the sequel interesting on a thematic level, Emily Blunt’s perspective is critical to the first film’s success. She’s both an outsider on the border and a deer caught in the headlights, and Blunt finds an innocence that’s not fragile. Alejandro’s final path of vengeance is one of the crowning achievements of both Villeneuve and Sheridan's careers.

sicario-poster
Sicario
R
Action
Crime
Documentary
Drama
Mystery
Thriller


An idealistic FBI agent is enlisted by a government task force to aid in the escalating war against drugs at the border area between the U.S. and Mexico.

Release Date
September 17, 2015
Director
Denis Villeneuve
Runtime
120

Watch on Amazon Prime

1. Hell or High Water

Release Date: August 12, 2016

hell or high water chris pine 20160

Sheridan often succeeds with his more pessimistic projects that focus on unlikeable characters, but Hell or High Water showed his remarkable ability to create empathy for nearly all of his characters. The film centers on the brothers Toby (Chris Pine) and Tanner Howard (Ben Foster), who rob a series of Texas Midland banks in order to save their departed mother’s ranch and pay for Toby’s children to go to college. They’re pursued by a pair of Texas Rangers; Marcus Hamilton (Jeff Bridges) is reaching the end of his career, and Alberto Parker (Gil Birmingham) sees the mission as a chance to advance on his own.

All four leading men are compelling in their own ways. Toby is neither a career criminal nor a perfect dad, and while Tanner enjoys the thrill of their heists, he’s also fiercely protective of his younger brother. There’s a Robin Hood nature to their crimes as they steal from the oppressive Texas Midland banks, but Hamilton and Parker are largely apolitical. They’re simply men on a mission, and the amusing banter between them grows more heartfelt as the story continues. Embodied with local detail, killer one-liners, and dramatic face offs, Hell or High Water is the most entertaining and impactful work of Sheridan’s career.

Hell or High Water
R
Crime
Documentary
Drama
Thriller
Western

Toby is a divorced father who's trying to make a better life. His brother is an ex-con with a short temper and a loose trigger finger. Together, they plan a series of heists against the bank that's about to foreclose on their family ranch.

Release Date
August 12, 2016
Director
David Mackenzie
Cast
Chris Pine , Jeff Bridges , Ben Foster , Katy Mixon , Dale Dickey , Kevin Rankin
Runtime
102

Watch on Peacock