Dark Winds review – this brooding Navajo murder mystery begs to be binged
A tribal police lieutenant teams up with the FBI in a knotty, atmospheric drama that’s largely populated by indigenous talent – including Reservation Dogs’s terrific Zahn McClarnon
It does not take very long for a dark wind to appear in this 1970s-set murder mystery. We first meet the Navajo Nation cop Joe Leaphorn (Zahn McClarnon) out in the middle of the parched plains of Monument Valley as he compels a sweaty white biker to dig a hole that looks like a grave. Could this be a prelude to some old-school frontier justice? A bullet to the skull, a body swallowed by the desert?
It is, in fact, a fake-out. The biker is being obliged to rebury some Native American artefacts he stole. But Leaphorn’s piercing gaze suggests that it would be a bad idea for the looter to push his luck. On cue, angry storm clouds blow in overhead.
Dark Winds aired on Alibi and is available as a box set on UKTV Play in the UK. It is available on SBS On Demand in Australia.
