Woman Walks Ahead

Woman Walks Ahead is a 2017 American biographical drama Western film directed by Susanna White and written by Steven Knight. The film is the story of Catherine Weldon (Jessica Chastain), a portrait painter who travels from New York City to the Dakotas in 1890 to paint a portrait of Sitting Bull (Michael Greyeyes). Chaske Spencer and Sam Rockwell also star. The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival September 10, 2017. It was released through DirecTV Cinema on May 31, 2018, before being released in a limited release on June 29, 2018, by A24.

Premise
Catherine Weldon, a Swiss-American portrait painter, travels from Brooklyn, New York to the Dakotas in the 1890s to paint a portrait of Sitting Bull. She becomes embroiled in the Lakota people's struggle over the rights to their land.

Production
On February 3, 2016, it was reported that Jessica Chastain was in talks to play Sitting Bull's confidante in Woman Walks Ahead, directed by Susanna White. On September 14, 2016, Michael Greyeyes, Sam Rockwell, Ciarán Hinds, Chaske Spencer, and Bill Camp joined the cast, with principal photography having begun in New Mexico.

Release
The film had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 10, 2017. Shortly after, A24 and DirecTV Cinema acquired distribution rights to the film. Its U.S. premiere was at the Tribeca Film Festival on April 25, 2018.

It was released through DirecTV Cinema on May 31, 2018, before being released in a limited release on June 29, 2018.

Reception
On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 59% based on 44 reviews, and an average rating of 5.9/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Woman Walks Ahead gets some extra mileage out of watchable work from Jessica Chastain and Michael Greyeyes, but uneven pacing and two-dimensional characters undermine their efforts." On Metacritic, which assigns a rating to reviews, the film has a weighted average score of 51 out of 100, based on 19 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".

Despite mixed reviews, Michael Greyeyes received critical acclaim for his portrayal of Sitting Bull. The New York Times critic Jeannette Catsoulis called his performance "a miracle of intelligence and dignity". RogerEbert.com contributor Susan Wloszczyna raved about his performance, calling it "the most subtle, soulful, and believable". Los Angeles Times and Village Voice critics described his presence as captivating as “wry wit and quiet gravity”, while the latter described his performance as "stirring".

Historical Accuracy
The circumstances of Sitting Bull's death are portrayed inaccurately in Woman Walks Ahead. Near the end of the film, several Indian Agency policemen arrive at Sitting Bull's cabin to arrest him. He surrenders peacefully and mounts a horse. Meanwhile, a solitary gunman of unknown identity lurks in a nearby building. Once Sitting Bull is astride his horse, the gunman fires a single shot, knocking the chief off his mount and killing him instantly.

In truth, Sitting Bull refused to go quietly when the police arrived. There was a struggle between Sitting Bull's followers and the policemen, which resulted in a total of thirteen people being killed, including Sitting Bull.