Meek's Cutoff

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Meek's Cutoff

PG,

2011,

1h 41m,

Western

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Watchlist

86%

136 Reviews

Tomatometer

53%

5,000+ Ratings

Popcornmeter

86%

Tomatometer

136 Reviews

53%

Popcornmeter

5,000+ Ratings

During the 1840s, six settlers and their guide are caught in a dangerous situation: They are lost, food and water are running out, and the surrounding desert threatens to claim them all. Meanwhile, their guide, Stephen Meek (Bruce Greenwood), refuses to acknowledge that they may be several weeks off-course. When a Native American (Rod Rondeaux) is captured, Emily Tetherow (Michelle Williams), one of the settlers, shields him from Meek's wrath, and he offers to lead the group to water in return.

Critics Consensus

Moving at a contemplative speed unseen in most westerns, Meek's Cutoff is an effective, intense journey of terror and survival in the untamed frontier.

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Adam Kempenaar

Filmspotting

Jun 15, 2026

4.5/5

...a bleak road movie with the sheen of a Western.

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Jim Schembri

The Age (Australia)

Jun 16, 2011

3.5/5

Michelle Williams is now the only Dawson's Creek cast member with a chat-worthy film career.

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Ben Sachs

Chicago Reader

May 27, 2011

Imagine a collaboration between John Ford and Wallace Stevens and you might get a sense of what Kelly Reichardt pulls off here: a sincere re-creation of the pioneer experience, brought to life through careful, often unexpected detail.

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Kathy Fennessy

Seattle Film Blog

May 4, 2025

4/4

Kelly Reichardt's meditative take on the genre, written by Jon Raymond, feels more enigmatic than most--with the possible exception of Jim Jarmusch's Dead Man--even if the period details look right.

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David Griffiths

Subculture Entertainment

Oct 29, 2024

4/5

Meek’s Cutoff shows that are still some creative films that can surface from the U.S. and only proves the fact that Kelly Reichardt is one of the most important filmmakers of our generation.

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Sarah Vincent

Sarah G Vincent Views

Jun 9, 2024

Reichardt is less interested in recreation than exploring how gender, race and relationships influence power dynamics in a vacuum, a wasteland, where survival should be the only goal. The events in the film feel more like a reimagining of untold history

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Hagrid S

Dec 2, 2018

As a History buff who has studied the Meek's Cutoff, this Movie is only 2% close to being accurate. It should have been called something else. The Meek Wagon Trains had thousands of head of Cattle, Oxen and horses. There were over a thousand people in the Wagon Train. They stayed at the Alkali lake for a period of time, drinking the bad water, and had numerous people die. The Indian, actually spoke broken english. The only factual parts I saw were the hardships, the finding of the Indian, the trading of the Blanket. The Indian actually led them to Water. I find it difficult to watch a film portraying something historical, and completely destroying History in the process. A simple Wikipedia search will show how inaccurate this Movie is. Even a low budget Film could show the accurate history. A horrible excuse of a movie to portray this as Meek's Cutoff. It simply should have been titled a tale of American Pioneers or something else, and I wouldn't have such a problem with this Film.

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Ron M

Apr 7, 2018

Slow, meaningless, little dialog, and less acting. I'd pass on this one.

Finn S

Mar 17, 2018

tHERE ARE SOME INTERESTING CHARACTERS IN THIS MOVIE THAT LEFT ME FEELING LIKE i JUST WASTED 104 MINUTES OF MY LIFE THAT i WILL NEVER GET BACK.

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Rey R

Aug 27, 2017

Enigmatic, difficult to love road movie into the hell of the American desert, a meditation on male pioneering hubris.

Anakin L

Jul 31, 2017

Meeks Cutoff Reminds me of the film "Heartland", stared Rip Torn and Conchata Ferrell (1979). It too started slow and the story crept onto its finale with heart.

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Kylo W

Jun 20, 2017

Meek's is what The walking dead should be like.

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Kelly Reichardt

Director

Michelle Williams

Emily Tetherow

Bruce Greenwood

Stephen Meek

Will Patton

Solomon Tetherow

Zoe Kazan

Millie Gately

Paul Dano

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Synopsis

During the 1840s, six settlers and their guide are caught in a dangerous situation: They are lost, food and water are running out, and the surrounding desert threatens to claim them all. Meanwhile, their guide, Stephen Meek (Bruce Greenwood), refuses to acknowledge that they may be several weeks off-course. When a Native American (Rod Rondeaux) is captured, Emily Tetherow (Michelle Williams), one of the settlers, shields him from Meek's wrath, and he offers to lead the group to water in return.

Director: Kelly Reichardt
Producer: Neil Kopp, Anish Savjani, Elizabeth Cuthrell, David Urrutia
Screenwriter: Jonathan Raymond
Distributor: Oscilloscope Pictures
Production Co: Film Science, Harmon Productions
Rating: PG (Smoking|Brief Language|Some Mild Violent Content)
Genre: Western
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Apr 8, 2011, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Jul 24, 2012
Box Office (Gross USA): $977.6K
Runtime: 1h 41m

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