Kelly Reichardt's First Cow shrinks the western down to its smallest possible scale: two men, one scheme and a single animal. The 2020 American drama is set in the Oregon Territory, and it cares far less about gunfights than about friendship and the fragile business of trying to get ahead.
What is First Cow about?
A quiet loner with a real talent for cooking has gone west and fallen in with a party of fur trappers. He does not belong among them, and the frontier offers him little company until he crosses paths with a Chinese immigrant who has come to the same country chasing his own fortune, the one person with whom he forms a real bond. Before long they go into business together, and the venture takes off. There is a catch, though. Everything they sell depends on milk, and the only source is the prized cow of a wealthy landowner living nearby, an animal whose part in the enterprise has to stay secret. The partners' success therefore rests on a borrowed foundation, and the question hanging over the story is how long such an arrangement can possibly hold.
About the cast
John Magaro and Orion Lee are the first names in the cast list. They are joined by René Auberjonois, Toby Jones, Ewen Bremner, Scott Shepherd, Gary Farmer and Lily Gladstone. Kelly Reichardt directs.
Context & significance
First Cow is filed under drama and western, and it belongs to the quieter, revisionist end of that second genre. There are trappers, traders and newcomers of many origins here instead of sheriffs and outlaws, and the stakes are economic: who owns what, who is allowed to prosper, and what people without capital must risk to make a start. The film is a United States production running 122 minutes, and it moves at an unhurried pace that rewards patient viewing. Critics received it warmly, and it is frequently counted among the stronger American independent dramas of its year.
Watching First Cow on Ktime
You can stream First Cow on K-Time with a Persian dub or with Persian subtitles over the original audio. This page is open to everyone, while playback needs a K-Time account login. K-Time is a Persian-focused streaming service for Iranians living abroad, and its menus and search work fully in Farsi.