The Friends We Made: First Cow Review

I could not get anybody to see First Cow with me. This is in part because of the added risk of theatre-going due to the coronavirus, but it can't have been helped by the fact that they were underwhelmed when I answered the question, "what's it about?" with "a cow and friendship."

First Cow, the latest film by Kelly Reichardt, is about a cow and friendship, and that's what makes it so amazing. It opens with a quote from William Blake: "The bird a nest, the spider a web, man friendship."

The movie opens with an image of how it will end, a technique used in many films to create a framing device (ex. Titanic) but the way it's done feels wholly new. That feeling is carried through the rest of the movie, this contemporary air in a tale as old as time. Even the friendship is the story of two misfits from their respective groups coming together for misadventures. There's a quote, I can't remember it exactly, but the two characters are talking about the land. One refers to it as new because it has yet to be occupied, while the other insists that it is old because it's been there forever. 

So much of the film is so incredibly precious. The friendship at the center of it is so pure and refreshing. When they first meet, neither even thinks to be suspicious of each other, they just need each other. It's so enjoyable to watch. 

The film is beautiful, but it's not like most arthouse films. Most beautiful films feel so delicate that just by touching it you'd break it. This one is so inviting, so comforting, like a coffee shop with far too much mismatched overstuffed furniture. 

The look of the film is so specific and precise. It feels like a story told on paper. There are multiple planes in almost every shot -it never feels flat- but the way that they interact feels like stacks of paper pressed together. The way the film is shot feels like a colored pencil drawing, less dense than a painting but also more calculated. The timelessness and comfort of the film contribute to the feeling of the movie that makes it overall feel like cracking open a well-worn book on a sunny morning. 

I loved this movie. It made me so happy throughout and truly is a moving and wonderful tale of friendship and a cow in the Old West.