First Cow


First Cow is a 2019 American drama film directed by Kelly Reichardt, from a screenplay by Reichardt and Jonathan Raymond based on Raymond's novel The Half Life. It stars John Magaro, Orion Lee, Toby Jones, Ewen Bremner, Scott Shephard, Gary Farmer and Lily Gladstone. It also features René Auberjonois in one of his final film roles.
The film had its world premiere at the Telluride Film Festival on August 30, 2019, and was also selected to compete for the Golden Bear in the main competition section at the 70th Berlin International Film Festival. It was theatrically released in the United States on March 6, 2020 by A24 and subsequently released on VOD platforms on July 10, 2020.

Synopsis

In the present day, a woman is walking with her dog when she comes across a skull buried in the ground. She digs up two skeletons, side by side.
In 1820, Otis "Cookie" Figowitz is a quiet chef traveling with a group of fur trappers in the Oregon Territory. Contrary to Cookie's gentle and quiet demeanor, the fur trappers are loud and aggressive, harassing Cookie for not bringing them enough food while scavenging. One night, he comes across King-Lu, a Chinese immigrant on the run for killing a Russian man. They have a pleasant conversation and Cookie, having made a friend, allows Lu to hide in his tent for the night and watches him escape across the river the next day. When the group reaches Fort Tillicum, Cookie receives his pay and leaves the group of fur trappers. He goes to a bar where a man harasses another patron. The patron, having brought his infant son, asks Cookie to watch the baby while he fights the man who harasses him. All of the patrons leave the bar to go watch the fight except Cookie and another man, who is revealed to be Lu. Cookie and Lu are delighted to see each other again and Lu invites Cookie to the shack he is staying at. Cookie is initially hesitant to go as he agreed to watch the man's baby, but Lu convinces him to leave.
They spend several days together at the shack and bond. Lu talks about his past traveling the world and Cookie talks about his ambitions, saying that he would like to one day open either a bakery or a hotel in San Francisco. Cookie learns of the first ever milk cow being brought into the territories to service Chief Factor, a wealthy English man with the only proper house in the settlement. According to rumors in the bar, he intends to use the cow's milk only for his tea. The cow's mate and calf died on its journey to Oregon, making it the only cow. Cookie sees that the cow is left out in the open by Factor's property and reminisces on his days as a baker's assistant and tells Lu about how he would like some of the cow's milk as he could use it to make baked goods, such as cookies and biscuits. Lu suggests that they steal the cow's milk at night when it isn't being watched. Together they come up with a plan to sneak onto Factor's property, with Cookie milking the cow and Lu keeping watch from a tree, being ready to signal in case anything goes wrong. While milking the cow, Cookie forms a bond with it, expressing sympathy for the cow losing its mate and calf. They manage to get enough milk to bake a batch of biscuits without being caught. While Cookie is unsatisfied with the result, wishing it could be sweeter, Lu points out that it tastes better than any food the outpost has and that it could easily sell for a lot of money.
They take their biscuits to the market and offer to sell them. When asked how they're made, Lu claims it's a "Chinese secret" and doesn't say much else. The biscuits become popular instantly and they sell out their first batch within minutes. In the days that follow, lines begin to form for people to try their biscuits. Cookie works on the recipe by adding honey and Lu works on his sales technique. A boy who works for Factor and watches the cow attempts to buy a biscuit, but he is cut in line and barely misses his chance to try the last one of the day.
One day, they are asked to reserve at least one biscuit for Factor, who has become aware of their business and is intrigued. Factor buys one and loves it, complimenting Cookie on his baking and saying that it reminds him of London. While Cookie is flattered by Factor's compliments, Lu becomes wary, believing that Factor will recognize the taste of his milk. Factor asks Cookie to make a special french cake for an upcoming meeting he has with a local captain and a Native American chief. At the meeting, Factor offers tea with cream to the captain, remarking that despite the high quality breed of his milk cow, it is producing very little milk, which puts both Cookie and Lu on edge. He takes the captain, the chief, Cookie and Lu to see the cow. The cow recognizes Cookie and nuzzles him, causing the two men to become more alert. After this meeting, Cookie wants to end the business and move on with Lu, but Lu wants to sell one more batch of biscuits, saying that they just need a little bit more money before they're ready to move on, arguing that Factor is a fool who is still completely unaware of their plans. Cookie reluctantly agrees and they go back the next night to milk the cow one more time.
A man living inside of Factor's estate happens to walk outside that night. Lu, seeing him, attempts to signal to Cookie that the plan has gone wrong. While learning on the branch in an attempt to get Cookie's attention, the branch snaps. Cookie leaves the cow, knocking over the milk in the process, and goes to check on Lu. The man who went outside sees the noise and alerts everyone in the house, believing that they are under attack. Cookie and Lu run off and after a quick inspection of the yard, the captain finds the overturned milk bucket and the stool Cookie used, deducing that someone has been stealing Factor's milk. Factor realizes that Cookie and Lu are the ones responsible and declares that he intends to kill them. A hunt ensues and Factor and his men corner Cookie and Lu at a cliff by the river.
Cookie and Lu split up after Lu jumps in the river and swims away in an attempt to escape while Cookie instead hides in nearby bushes. Cookie tries to run away after Factor's men leave but falls down a hill and sustains a head injury. He wakes up in a shack owned by a Hawaiian couple, saying that he needs to find his friend. Meanwhile, Lu hires a man who owns a canoe to take him downstream. He eventually returns to the shack, intent on taking the money from the tree they have hid it in. He hides after seeing Factor's security arrive at the shack and destroy it, seeing that they believe the shack to be abandoned. After they leave, he retrieves the money from the tree. Cookie regains his strength and returns to the shack. He walks by the cow, which is now surrounded by a fence. Unbeknownst to him, the boy who watched the cow and was denied the last biscuit saw him, and begins to follow him by himself while carrying a gun. Lu and Cookie reunite at the shack. When they reunite, Lu recommends they get a ride on the nearest boat going south. Cookie, still suffering from his head injury, has difficulty keeping up while Lu encourages him to keep going, both of them unaware that they are being followed by the boy. Eventually Cookie lies down, his injury getting worse. Lu clutches the bag of money for a moment, seemingly considering leaving Cookie. However, he instead chooses to lay down beside him, saying that they will be safe there. They both lie down in the same position as the skeletons found in the opening.

Cast

In October 2018, it was announced Kelly Reichardt would direct the film, from a screenplay she wrote alongside Jonathan Raymond. Neil Kopp, Vincent Savino, Anish Savjani, Scott Rudin and Eli Bush will produce the film under their FilmScience and Scott Rudin Productions banners, respectively, while A24 will distribute. In November 2018, René Auberjonois was cast in the film. In March 2019, it was announced John Magaro had joined the cast of the film.
Principal photography began in November 2018. Reichardt shot the movie in a 4:3 ratio instead of letterbox.

Release

It had its world premiere at the Telluride Film Festival on August 30, 2019. It screened at the New York Film Festival on September 28, 2019. Although it was released in four theaters in the United States on March 6, 2020, the film was pulled from release by its distributor on March 15, 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The film was released for purchase on VOD platforms on July 10, 2020 and became available to rent on July 21, 2020. It has yet to receive a full, nationwide theatrical release.

Critical reception

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 95% based on 119 reviews, with an average rating of 8.32/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "First Cow finds director Kelly Reichardt revisiting territory and themes that will be familiar to fans of her previous work -- with typically rewarding results." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 89 out of 100, based on 40 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".
A. A. Dowd and Katie Rife of The A.V. Club gave the film a positive review, praising its simplicity and precision in storytelling.