Kelly Reichardt is incredibly gifted at gleaning gold from atypical cinematic perspectives. This is most apparent in Meek’s Cutoff and Certain Women (though also true of Wendy and Lucy) and continues, beautifully, in First Cow. In this film, we follow Cookie (John Magaro), a skilled cook who begins the film in a group of Trappers. During this expedition, he encounters King-Lu (Orion Lee) and gives him necessary help at a moment of real vulnerability. This act of kindness and compassion echoes throughout the film, a film that is defined by the enduring friendship of these two characters and by small, intimate moments of connection. Why Cookie is so atypical is due to his presentation. He is soft spoken, and rarely speaks, feeling like a man out of place that does not fit into the overtly masculine milieu around him. The film is set in 1820s Oregon, a time of opportunity for some and hardship for others. This sounds very familiar but the beauty of the film is its understanding of how these two factors are related, and how they coalesce in the main character. Cookie is a man who can bring a lot to society: when he is able to later, he makes delicious cakes that become the most popular thing in the local – for want of a better word – market. This gets him recognised by the local gentry, Chief Factor (Toby Jones), and reaps him real financial rewards. At the start, though, Cookie is shown as somewhat useless. He brings little to the initial expedition and is maligned by the Trappers. This arc from seemingly unskilled to incredibly competent is merely defined by access to resources and due to the external environment. At the beginning of the film, we find mushrooms growing in the dirt and this symbolically resonates throughout the film: things flourish in the right environment. On one level, this is a beautiful film about friendship. The centrepiece is the beautifully captured partnership between Cookie and King-Lu. The dialogue is sparse but the affection shown through the subtleties in their performances is just astounding. As mentioned, Magaro’s Cookie is reserved and cinematically atypical; Orion Lee’s King-Lu is also an atypical protagonist. We are used to this period as a filmic location, a fertile playground for stories depicting the American Dream – of which this is one (though a very different one). However, this film includes a pleasing diversity of perspectives that feels incredibly natural. King-Lu’s Chinese background is core to the story of the film, if not the plot per-se (though this is definitely a film that places story over plot). These wider insights and backgrounds make this a more fulfilling and engaging portrait of ‘The West’. The underlying concept of it as a land of opportunity feels less orchestrated. And while the film still clearly criticises this notion, it presents it as an overriding viewpoint – the diversity of perspectives just increases this idea of everybody trying to get something out of one place. On its most satisfying level, this film functions as a very perceptive allegory about the relationship between labour and resources. Everything works as an effortlessly naturalistic portrait of rural living on the edge of modernity, but everything also works as a microcosm for society. After setting out its characters, we make our way to the core conceit of the film: Toby Jones’ Chief Factor has bought a cow. It is the first cow to reach the area and is, for reasons that will soon become clear, a very big deal. Chief Factor, however, has nothing he can really do with this cow. He is a landowner and he has received a literal means of production; his status has afforded it to him though he is obviously not the best person to have it. As farcical as it may seem, the cow is a status symbol. We learn early that getting the cow here was difficult. Three cows were supposed to arrive (one a calf) but on