Taylor Sheridan's First Two Thrillers Are So Good, They're Even Better Than Landman & Yellowstone
Padraig is a Senior Features Writer and has been part of Screen Rant since 2017. Padraig is a writer, editor and retired Game of Thrones extra who has been writing about movies and TV online for over a decade. He has also written for The Irish Times, Den Of Geek, Little White Lies and many more. It's pronounced Paw-rick, BTW.
Taylor Sheridan's first two movies are so perfect, they even beat out the likes of Yellowstone or Landman. Taylor Sheridan's TV empire is showing few signs of losing steam. 2026 saw him add new hits like Dutton Ranch and The Madison to his CV, and even the critically lambasted Yellowstone universe spin-off Marshals has done extremely well for CBS.
Sheridan has become such a TV powerhouse, it's almost easy to forget what a splash he made on the big screen. He rose to fame with his so-called American Frontier trilogy, consisting of Sicario, Wind River and Hell or High Water. All three are tightly constructed Neo-Westerns with great characters, quotable dialogue and occasional, shocking outbursts of violence.
All three were critically acclaimed too, with Sicario and Wind River even spawning sequels; that said, Wind River's follow-up has been sitting on a shelf for a few years now. What made all three films so impressive was that Sheridan hadn't even been a screenwriter beforehand, and was instead a jobbing actor best known for his supporting role on Sons of Anarchy.
Taylor Sheridan's Writing Is Even Better Suited To Movies Than TV
Sheridan has since stated his writing talent actually came from years of reading bad TV show scripts, and learning what not to do. Sheridan's earliest produced screenplays all share common themes, being modern Westerns that explore topics like racism, poverty, and how blurry the line between right and wrong can be.
Taylor Sheridan made his acting debut in a 1995 episode of Walker, Texas Ranger.
Sheridan has written some superb shows, with 1883 arguably being his crowning achievement in that area. While TV might give him access to near-unlimited budgets, it must be said that his writing still feels better suited to movies. In the later years of Yellowstone, for instance, it could feel like the show was spinning its wheels and moving slower than needed to pad out the episode count.
The same could be true for Landman or 1923, but with his film screenplays, Sheridan never wastes a word. Hell or High Water packs so much character and depth into a 100-minute runtime, which only would have been diluted had it been an eight-part miniseries, or worse, a multi-season TV show.
Sicario & Hell Or High Water Remain The Peak Of Taylor Sheridan's Career
There is a raw power to both Hell or High Water and Sicario that Sheridan has never quite recaptured with his TV work. There is a narrative focus and simplicity that makes them move like lightning, whilst also giving the actors great material to work with. They both underline what Sheridan is best at too, such as exploring Western themes through a contemporary lens and telling lyrical stories that lead to tragic endings.
That's not to say Sheridan hasn't achieved the same effect with his shows, but there is a fundamental difference between telling a story in under two hours or across five seasons. Yellowstone may have the greater cultural footprint, but the show could be sloppy and unfocused in its narrative and character development. Sicario, on the other hand, wastes no time and doesn't have a single false note across its runtime.
Taylor Sheridan Is Finally Returning To Movies In 2027
Sheridan hasn't directed a movie since 2021's Those Who Wish Me Dead, and has been focused on television ever since. There are signs he's ready to commit to films again, though, with his action thriller F.A.S.T. arriving in 2027. Sheridan actually penned the script for this actioner years ago, which will star Brandon Sklenar (1923) as a former Special Forces commando tasked by the DEA to take down drug dealers in his hometown.
Sheridan is also set to co-write Peter Berg's Call of Duty adaptation, which is eyeing a 2028 release. Sheridan seems like an odd choice for this project, but given that Lioness season three's debut episode felt like one long Call of Duty mission, fans of the games have little to worry about. It would also be great to see Sheridan return to the director's chair and helm something in the vein of Wind River or Sicario again.
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Sicario is an action crime thriller from director Denis Villeneuve. The film stars Emily Blunt as Kate Macer, an FBI agent who is recruited to help Matt Graver and Alejandro in the war on drugs that is escalating on the US and Mexican border.
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Hell or High Water
8/10
- Release Date
- August 11, 2016
- Runtime
- 102 minutes
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Marcus Hamilton
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Toby Howard
A divorced father and his ex-convict brother engage in a desperate scheme to save their family's West Texas farm.
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