Trailer
Plot summary
In 1845, three families travel west along the Oregon Trail and hire Stephen Meek to guide their wagons over the Cascade Mountains. Meek claims he knows a shortcut and takes them on an unmarked route across the Oregon High Desert. The group comes to suspect that their guide does not know the country well enough to find a safe and certain way. A crossing that was supposed to last two weeks stretches into five. Supplies of water and food dwindle, and the families grow tense. The husbands argue over how long they should keep following Meek, while their wives look on without a part in the decision.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Meek's Cutoff (2010)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- The film is loosely based on a real 1845 incident on the Oregon Trail, when frontier guide Stephen Meek led a wagon train on an ill-fated journey through the Oregon High Desert along the route later known as the Meek Cutoff.
- To prepare the cast, director Kelly Reichardt set up a pioneer camp in the desert so the actors could get used to the demands of 19th-century chores and wilderness upkeep.
- Actress Shirley Henderson recalled that the shoot in rural Oregon brought snow and intense dust storms, a couple of hours' drive into the desert each day, and so little daylight that there was no luxury of extra days.
