Plot

A wildlife officer, who is haunted by a tragedy that happened because of him, teams up with an FBI agent in solving a murder of a young woman on a Wyoming Native American reservation and hopes to get redemption from his past regrets.

East of Boulder Flats, deep into the vast and unforgiving white territory of the Wind River Indian Reservation, the seasoned game tracker, Cory Lambert, discovers the frozen body of the young Native American, Natalie. As this is a federal crime, the F.B.I. dispatches the inexperienced but courageous agent Jane Banner to lead the investigation, however, the unprepared outsider will soon team up with Cory to unravel the mystery of Natalie's murder. Before long, Cory will inevitably have to face his own past, while at the same time, both he and Jane are thirsting to see justice done. In the end, will this be a fruitful alliance?—Nick Riganas

A wildlife officer (Cory Lambert) finds the dead body of a local Native American girl out in the middle of the cold Wyoming wildlife. With the help of an FBI agent (Jane Banner) and locals alike, the two try to uncover what seems to be a mysterious murder. Haunted by his past, Cory spares no time or resource trying to solve this mystery in hopes of it solving his internal struggle.

During a winter season in Wind River Indian Reservation in Wyoming, expert tracker and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service agent Cory Lambert discovers the frozen body of 18-year-old Natalie Hanson who was barefoot, without proper winter attire, miles from any building, and had a blood-stained groin. FBI special agent Jane Banner arrives to investigate a possible homicide. The next day, Jane learns from Natalie's father, Martin, that his daughter was dating a new boyfriend, but he does not know the man's name or whereabouts. The autopsy shows blunt trauma and sexual violence and confirms Cory's deduction that the girl died from exposure, specifically pulmonary hemorrhage caused by rapid inhalation of sub-zero air. However, the medical examiner is unable to confirm the death as a homicide, therefore preventing Jane from calling in an additional FBI investigative unit.

A woman runs across a desolate and frigid landscape, barefoot and in very light clothes. She is in a state of panic.

It is winter on the Wind River Indian Reservation in Wyoming when U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service agent Cory Lambert (Jeremy Renner) was called to the Indian Reservation to track down a lion who has been hunting down farm animals.

Cory goes fox hunting on the reserve in his free time and maintains a large farm with horses and other domesticated animals. Cory is estranged with his wife Wilma, but is friends with his in-laws Dan Crowheart (Apesanahkwat) and Alice Crowheart (Tantoo Cardinal). Cory is estranged from his wife Wilma (Julia Jones ) after the death of their daughter. Casey is also from the Northern Arapaho tribe. They have son named Casey (Teo Briones) together, who is under a joint custody arrangement.

Cory takes a snow scooter and tracks the animal in the snow. While looking for it, Cory stumbles upon the dead body of Natalie.

Cory discovers the frozen body of 18-year-old Natalie Hanson (Kelsey Chow), without shoes or proper winter attire, and with a blood-stained groin. Natalie Hanson belonged to the Northern Arapaho tribe. Natalie had signs of frostbite on her hands and feet and it is clear that she died after enduring immense pain. A huge snowstorm is supposed to be hitting the town.

Rookie FBI special agent Jane Banner (Elizabeth Olsen) arrives to determine whether a murder has been committed. Jane arrives just as the storm hits with its full force. Cory finds Jane struggling in the storm trying to find her way in the car and guides her to his in-laws home (the nearest one on the reservation). Jane is from Miami and inadequately dressed for the Wyoming winter. Alice gives her grand-daughter's clothes to Jane to wear, and Cory is a little taken aback to see her in those clothes.

Jane inspects Natalie's body. She learns that her home was 3.5 miles from where she was, and the nearest structure otherwise was an oil rig about 5 miles away. Cory says that Natalie was running and collapsed when her lungs filled up with water, after being exposed to -20 degrees air for an extended period of time.

The next day, Jane learns from Natalie's father, Martin, that his daughter was dating a new boyfriend, but he doesn't know the man's name or whereabouts. The autopsy returns findings of blunt trauma and sexual violence and confirms Cory's deduction that the girl had died from exposure, specifically pulmonary hemorrhage caused by rapid inhalation of sub-zero air. However, the medical examiner is unable to report that the victim was murdered, therefore preventing Jane from calling in an additional FBI investigative unit.

Lambert is informed by Natalie's brother Chip (Martin Sensmeier) that Natalie's boyfriend is Matt Rayburn (Jon Bernthal) and works security at a nearby oil drilling site.

The next day another body is discovered, this one male, nude, and heavily ravaged by scavenging wildlife. Jane is told that the male body has been identified as Matt Rayburn, a security guard from the drilling rig. Lambert reveals to Banner that his 16-year-old daughter Emily died in a similar manner to Natalie three years earlier, whose body was discovered in the snow, following a party at his house while he and his wife had been out of town. The case remains unsolved to this day.

Jane, accompanied by tribal police Chief Ben Shoyo (Graham Greene) and additional officers, visit the drill site where they meet several of the security guards, who tell her they haven't seen Matt since he stormed off a few days ago following an argument with Natalie. While Jane's group of officers is led toward the drill crew's sleeping quarters, Cory has retraced the tracks up to Matt's corpse and finds that it leads directly into the drilling camp. Cory tries to warn Ben by radio. When Jane tells the guards that she's investigating Matt's disappearance, they reveal their knowledge of discovery of Natalie's body, claiming they had learned of it by monitoring law enforcement radio channels.

She points out that Natalie's name was never mentioned over the radio. One of the visiting officer notices that the security guards have started to surround Jane and her team. The confrontation quickly escalates into an armed standoff as they argue over who has jurisdiction, which Jane finally defuses by asserting federal authority over the others. Jane insists that she wants to see where Matt has been bunking, and they resume their approach to the trailer.

A flashback shows Natalie cuddling with Matt in his trailer. His security teammates interrupt, entering the trailer after a night of hard drinking. Pete (James Jordan), a particularly vulgar crew member, taunts them and then sexually harassing Natalie, which provokes Matt to violence. The guards retaliate by beating Matt down and sexually assaulting Natalie. When Matt attempts to fight back, the group beats him to death, giving Natalie the opportunity to escape by running cross-country to the mobile home where her brother lives.

Back in present time, Jane tries the door to Matt's trailer but is hit by a shotgun blast fired from inside by Pete. A firefight ensues, Jane is shot in the neck, and Ben and the other officers are killed. As Jane is about to be killed by the remaining security guards, Cory opens fire from a distance, killing all except Pete, who flees on foot. Cory catches up with Pete and offers him the same chance given Natalie, a barefoot escape toward a distant road. Pete runs for his life, but stumbles through the snow only a few dozen yards before his lungs give out and he collapses dead into the snow.

Cory visits Jane, who is recovering in the hospital, and praises her toughness. He visits Natalie's father Martin (Gil Birmingham) and tells him that the last security guard had died with a whimper. He and Martin sit together sharing the grief of their daughters' deaths. A title card states that missing persons statistics are kept for every demographic except Native American women, whose numbers remain unknown.