Thanks to his widely beloved Neo-Western series Yellowstone, Taylor Sheridan has become one of Hollywood's most successful and influential writers of the decade. Focusing on the struggle of the Dutton family to maintain control of their ranch, the series captures many of the best tropes of its genre. However, Sheridan's first foray into modern Westerns actually came in the 2010s, when he penned a brilliant trilogy of unconnected crime films.

Taylor Sheridan has steadily resurrected the Neo-Western genre since the beginning of his New American Frontier trilogy. This series of loosely-connected thrillers follows three distinct crime stories set in the modern American West, namely Wyoming and Texas. Although Sheridan has since become more associated with his Yellowstone franchise, his take on the modern Wild West was much better executed in his trilogy of crime films. Ranging from the US' war with Mexican drug cartels to a murder mystery on a Native American reservation, the writer's work has highlighted how the Old West never truly died -- it modernized.

Sicario Explores The US' War With Drug Cartels

The first of Taylor Sheridan's "New American Frontier" trilogy, Sicario, begins with the introduction of Kate Macer, an FBI special agent working against the Senora drug cartel. After a daring raid on a criminal safe house, she's recruited to an inter-agency task force by CIA agent Matt Graver. Along with a mysterious operative, Alejandro Gillick, Macer joins an operation to disrupt the cartel's operations and throw them into chaos. However, as her work with the group continues, Kate realizes that she's being used for an ultimate goal to which she isn't privy. With the cartels thrown into a state of war, she goes along for one last mission in the hopes of learning the full truth behind the group's goals.

Sicario was directed by Denis Villeneuve, whose distinct style ensured the film's success at the box office, landing it a sequel, as well as a planned third movie, though the French-Canadian director only helmed the first. The film plays directly into one of the biggest challenges facing the United States in both the drug trade and the criminal organizations behind it. In Graver's task force, the government is given the tools to get its hands dirty and quit playing by conventional rules of policing. The film is a good balance between modern action thrillers and a touch of the lawless nature of the Old West. Mexico has long served as a focal point of Westerns, so it only makes sense that a Neo-Western movie trilogy would include the country as a setting.

While not an official part of Sheridan's trilogy, Sicario's sequel, Day of the Soldado, leaned into the Western angle of the story even more. The film follows Alejandro Gillick as he and the CIA abduct the daughter of a drug lord to heighten tensions between the cartels even more. However, when Gillick and the girl are left alone in the Mexican desert, they trek across the country to the US border for help. The film mirrored fellow Neo-Western projects like Logan, The Mandalorian and The Creator, following a flawed protagonist charged with protecting a child in a lawless land.

Hell Or High Water Marks The Conclusion Of The New American Frontier Trilogy

The second entry in Sheridan's trilogy -- and the film that shares the most crossover with Yellowstone -- Hell Or High Water follows a pair of brothers, Toby and Tanner, who decide to rob banks to save their family ranch. However, when a robbery doesn't go as planned, they're pursued across the region by a pair of seasoned Texas Rangers, forcing a tense stand-off. When Tanner kills one of the Rangers, the pair split up, with Toby taking the money as his brother leads the remaining cop away. With nowhere left to run, the killer brother gets spotted by the Ranger who, rifle in hand, shoots him from a long distance. Meanwhile, Toby takes the money and pays off his family's debts, allowing them to keep the land.

Hell Or High Water shares many of the same themes as the Coen Brothers' adaptation of Cormack McCarthy's No Country For Old Men. The film manages to capture the same balance between the struggles of people in the American Southwest, while also showing the bleak realities of crime. Although Sheridan's film ends on a somewhat more optimistic and conclusive note, it makes for every bit as gritty and grounded a crime story as the Coen Brothers' film. With Jeff Bridges turning in one of his best performances as outgoing Texas Ranger Marcus Hamilton, as well as brilliant acting by Chris Pine and Ben Foster, the film puts the Western in Neo-Western.

Wind River Is A Murder Mystery That Shines A Light On Native American Crime Victims

Wind River focuses on a wildlife marshal, Cory Lambert, and FBI special agent, Jane Banner, who partner to investigate the murder of a Native American woman, Natalie, on a reservation. However, the bureau is initially reluctant to label the death a murder, due to inconclusive results from her autopsy. The pair work with Tribal Police to question locals, and their search leads them to an oil drilling site after they find the body of Natalie's boyfriend, Matt. Through the course of their investigation, the pair are led to a horrifying revelation of sexual assault committed by Matt's security officer co-workers.

Wind River highlights the modern struggles of Native American crime victims, especially those suffering sexual assault, disappearances and murder. Going back to the Old West, it's almost impossible to omit the plight of America's indigenous people, and Sheridan's murder mystery movie shows that this hasn't gone away. The film has one of the bleaker outlooks on the modern American West, owing to its difficult subject matter, especially in the full context of its scale and the way it's been swept under the rug. Abuse against Native Americans has been an unfortunate reality in the US, especially in the West, since the nation's founding -- and was a necessary topic to include in Sheridan's trilogy.

How Sheridan's Trilogy Mirrors The Perils And Tragedies Of The Old West

Buried in each of Taylor Sheridan's New American Frontier movies is the modernization of classic Old West struggles, showing how each of the era's dynamics and challenges didn't go away, but just evolved. This begins with the US' fraught history with its Southern border. Where many classic Westerns pitted American gunfighters and infantry against Mexican banditos or soldiers, such as The Alamo, Sicario trades those threats in for the drug cartels. Wind River shows how the plight of Native Americans is far from over, with cases of rape, abduction and murder struggling to gain recognition to force action. Hell Or High Water is a classic Western bank heist, one that follows its leads trying to make off with their loot to save the family ranch as hardened Texas Rangers pursue them.

Just as Yellowstone deals with the timeless American struggle of a family holding onto their property, Sheridan's trilogy touches on various challenges that are just as fundamental to the US' history. The purpose of the Neo-Western genre of cinema should be to take the core themes of the Old West and translate them into the modern world. This is something Sheridan has excelled at, both on television and film, and his hands-on approach to Wind River shows just how competent a storyteller he is both behind the camera and through his script. The film's tense atmosphere made it one of the best murder mysteries of its decade. The success of his films and series helped pave the way for the revival and dominance that the Neo-Western has enjoyed over the last decade.

The New American Frontier Trilogy Houses Three Of Cinema's Best Westerns

Sheridan's New American Frontier trilogy stands out as housing some of the best crime films of the 2010s, and clearly paved the way for his Yellowstone franchise. Impressively, despite having much less room to work with than in his sprawling TV franchise, Sheridan's movie characters feel every bit as nuanced and fleshed-out as the Duttons. Whether it's the Howard brothers working together to rob banks or the various motivations of the agents in Sicario, the writer-director has proven he can establish deep, thought-out characters in a limited runtime. This characterization is integral to the Western genre, which has proven since its creation that it has a unique strength in crafting original and compelling people and motivations.

Taylor Sheridan's work continues to be some of TV and film's most defining, and through his film trilogy he helped push the industry towards a Neo-Western revival. The movies do a great job of translating the trials and challenges of life on the old American frontier into modern society. The trilogy explores how many of the problems common during the 18th and 19th century still exist in some form today. From the efforts of two brothers to hold onto their family ranch to an exploration of crimes against Native Americans, the New American Frontier trilogy more than lives up to its name.

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  Sicario

  R

  Drama

  Crime

  Action

  Where to Watch

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  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.

  Director

  Denis Villeneuve

  Release Date

  October 2, 2015

  Cast

  Benicio Del Toro , Emily Blunt , Josh Brolin , Jeffrey Donovan , Jon Bernthal , Victor Garber

  Writers

  Taylor Sheridan

  Runtime

  121 Minutes

  Main Genre

  Action

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  Hell or High Water

  R

  Drama

  Thriller

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  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.

  Director

  David Mackenzie

  Release Date

  August 26, 2016

  Cast

  Chris Pine , Ben Foster , Jeff Bridges

  Writers

  Taylor Sheridan

  Runtime

  1 Hour 42 Minutes

  Main Genre

  Crime