Taylor Sheridanseems to have taken the entertainment world by storm. The writer and director rose to prominence in the 2010s, largely thanks to his screenplays, and even received an Oscar nomination for writing the 2016 neo-WesternHell or High Water. However, Sheridan rose to superstardom with the TV showYellowstone, kickstarting his career as one of the most prominent creators in the business.
Nowadays, Sheridan is best known for his work on TV, starting withYellowstoneand its spin-offs and continuing with hits likeTulsa KingandLandman. However, Sheridan has also left a mark on the big screen, writing and directing a few movies that can be considered modern classics in their respective genres.This list will rank every movie written or directed by Taylor Sheridanbased on their quality, how well they have aged, and their overall role in the creator’s career.
7’Vile' (2011)
Directed by Taylor Sheridan
Taylor Sheridan made his directorial debutwith the 2011 horror movieVile. The film follows ten kidnapped strangers who must escape from a locked room, enduring excruciating pain in the process.Greg Cipes,Heidi Mueller, andMcKenzie Westmoreare among the film’s ensemble.
Vileis very much a product of the torture subgenre of horror that immediately followed the success of 2004’sSaw. Yet,Sheridan opts for a truly bizarre approachwhere characters spend almost as much time talking about the pain as actually enduring it. Sheridanstruggles to balance the demands of the splatter subgenrewith a story that’s actually interesting, if not necessarily compelling. The result is a confused and almost absurdly incompetent movie that has no hints at the filmmaker Sheridan would eventually become.
6’Sicario: Day of the Soldado' (2018)
Directed by Stefano Sollima
The sequel to the acclaimed 2015 action thrillerSicariofailed to live up to its predecessor. 2018’sSicario: Day of the Soldadosees the return ofBenicio del ToroandJosh Brolinin a tale that focuses on human trafficking in the US-Mexico border.Manuel García Rulfo,Catherine Keener, andIsabela Monerjoin the cast, withStefano Sollimataking over the directorial duties.
Sicario: Day of the Soldadoisthe laziest kind of sequel, one that exists solely because of the unexpected success of the original. However, it lacks the depth of its predecessor, opting fora more stereotypical approach.The loss ofDenis VilleneuveandEmily Bluntweighs heavily on the film, reducing it to a decent but ultimately underwhelming follow-up to what is undoubtedly one of the defining thrillers of the 2010s.Sadly,Day of the Soldadojust can’t measure up to the brilliance that came before.
Sicario: Day Of The Soldado
5’Without Remorse' (2021)
Michael B. Jordanleads Stefano Sollima’s action thrillerWithout Remorse. Based onTom Clancy’s eponymous 1993 novel, the film centers on John Kelly (Jordan), a US Navy SEAL out for revenge after Russian criminals kill his wife and unit members. Sheridan co-wrote the screenplay withWill Staples, and the film also starsJamie BellandJodie Turner-Smith.
Tom Clancy’sJack Ryanmoviesare well-known, with many becoming outright classics of the action genre. Sadly,Without Remorsecan’t really measure up, despite Jordan’s best efforts. Still, it’sa solid action thrillerthat does very little to elevate its painfully conventional story but succeeds in delivering severalgrueling action sequences that make it worth a watch. Some narrative elements might be outdated, but Jordan is pretty good in the lead role and deserves another shot in the franchise.
Without Remorse
Oscar-winnerAngelina JolieleadsSheridan’s latest directorial effort, the 2021 action thrillerThose Who Wish Me Dead. The actress plays Hannah Faber, a smokejumper who must go on the run to the Montana wilderness to protect a boy (Finn Little) from a pair of assassins (Nicholas HoultandAidan Gillen).Jon BernthalandJake Weberalso appear.
Those Who Wish Me Deadrelies entirely on Sheridan’s ability behind the camera and Jolie’s action-star quality. Luckily, the duo has enough of those qualities to spare, resulting ina throwback thriller that entertains, if not necessarily challenges. Jolie is in fine form as the protagonist, and Sheridan provides her withenough exhilarating action sequencesto justify her efforts. The plot is nothing out of the ordinary, and the supporting cast is somewhat wasted. Yet,when Jolie and Sheridan are this good, everything else pretty much takes a backseat.
3’Wind River' (2017)
2017’sWind Riveris Taylor Sheridan’s best effort in the director’s chair.Elizabeth OlsenandJeremy Rennerstar in this neo-Western crime movie about a US Fish and Wildlife Service tracker and an FBI agent who join forces to solve a murder in the Wind River Indian Reservation in Wyoming.
Wind Riveroffersa near-perfect blend of the themes that most interest Sheridan. The mystery is compelling and unpredictable, keeping audiences on the edge, and the thrills are visceral and almost relentless, propulsed by terrific performances from Olsen and Renner, somewhat cast against type.Wind Riverdoesn’t attempt to ask questions it can’t answer; instead, it settled for offering a captivating mystery thatwalks a fine line between classic whodunit and intense thriller, finding a middle point where Sheridan’s narrative strengths can soar.
Wind River
2’Sicario' (2015)
Directed by Denis Villeneuve
In many ways,Sicariois the movie that put Sheridan on the map.Directed byDenis Villeneuveand starringEmily Blunt, the film follows Kate Mercer, an FBI special agent tasked with bringing down the leader of a powerful drug cartel. Josh Brolin and Benicio del Toro co-star alongsideDaniel Kaluuya,Victor Garber, and Jon Bernthal.
Sicariois a masterful action thriller, packing enoughvisceral themes and visuals to both shock and entertain. Villeneuve’s tight direction makes the most of Sheridan’s often ruthless screenplay, while Blunt lends the film a sense of gravitas that prevents it from descending into mere shock value. Sheridan opts for a less straightforward approach to the War on Drugs, posing intriguing, thought-provoking questions aboutthe cycle of violence, the nature of morality, and the consequences of war.Sicariois among Sheridan’s more challenging efforts, and it’s ultimately for the best.
1’Hell or High Water' (2016)
Directed by David Mackenzie
2016’sHell or High Wateris, undoubtedly, the best Taylor Sheridan movie. Directed byDavid Mackenzieand written by Sheridan, the film starsChris PineandBen Fosteras two brothers who take to robbing banks to save their family ranch. Soon, their deeds put them on the radar of two Texas rangers, leading to a chase across West Texas.Jeff Bridgesco-stars, earning an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor.
As previously mentioned,Sheridan earned a well-deserved Oscar nod for his screenplay.Hell or High Waterfeatures all the strongest features that have come to characterize Sheridan’s efforts: it’s high on thrills and offers an engaging narrative that never sacrifices the emotional weight. Pine, Foster, and Bridges are all in fine form, and the story isboth a character study and a satisfying crime thriller.Hell or High Watersingle-handedly spearheadedthe rebirth of the Westernon the big screen, thanks to a classic tale of lawlessness and the blurred lines between “right” and “wrong” in the American West.
