Meek's cutoff; from acclaimed director kelly reichardt (wendy and lucy; old joy); is a stark and poetic drama set in 1845; the earliest days of the treacherous oregon trail. A wagon train of three families (including two-time academy award nominee michelle williams) has hired mountain man stephen meek to guide them over the cascade mountains. Claiming to know a shortcut; meek leads the group on an unmarked path across the high plain desert; only to become lost in the dry rock and sage. Over the coming days; the emigrants must face the scourges of hunger; thirst; and their own lack of faith in each other's instincts for survival. When a native american wanderer crosses their path; the emigrants are torn between their trust in a guide who has proven himself unreliable and a man who has always been seen as their natural born enemy.