First Cow

In the present day, a woman is walking with her dog when she uncovers two skeletons, side by side.

In 1820, Otis "Cookie" Figowitz is a quiet chef traveling in Oregon Country with a group of loud and aggressive fur trappers who harass 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. Cookie allows Lu to hide in his tent for the night and watches him escape across the river the next day.

Cookie and Lu later reunite and spend several days bonding at Lu's shack. Lu talks about his past traveling the world and his desire to own a farm. Cookie talks about his ambition to one day open either a bakery or a hotel in San Francisco. Cookie learns of the first milk cow in the region, owned by the Chief Factor, a wealthy English man with the only proper house in the settlement. The cow's mate and calf died on its journey to Oregon, making it the only cow. Cookie reminisces about his days as a baker's assistant in Boston and tells Lu that he could use some of the cow's milk to make baked goods. They sneak onto the Chief Factor's property at night, Cookie milking the cow and Lu keeping watch from a tree. 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." 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.

One day, they are asked to reserve a biscuit for the Chief Factor, who has become aware of their business and is intrigued. The Chief Factor enjoys it greatly and asks Cookie to bake a clafoutis for an upcoming meeting he has with a local captain and a Native American chief. At the meeting, the Chief 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, which recognizes Cookie and nuzzles him. 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 more money. Cookie reluctantly agrees and they go back the next night to milk the cow one more time.

A man living inside the Chief Factor's estate happens to be outside that night. Lu, seeing him, attempts to signal to Cookie, but the branch he is leaning on snaps. Cookie leaves the cow, knocking over the milk in the process, and goes to check on Lu. The Chief Factor's man hears the noise and alerts everyone in the house, believing they are under attack. Cookie and Lu run off. The Chief Factor realizes that Cookie and Lu are stealing the cow's milk and says he intends to kill them. A hunt ensues; the Chief Factor and his men corner Cookie and Lu at a cliff by a river. Lu jumps in the river and swims away while Cookie instead hides in nearby bushes. Cookie tries to run away after the Chief Factor's men leave but falls down a hill and sustains a head injury. He wakes up in a shack owned by a Native American 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, planning to retrieve the money from the tree in which they have concealed it. He hides after seeing the Chief Factor's men arrive at the shack and destroy it. After they leave, he takes the money from the tree. Cookie regains his strength and returns to the shack. He walks by the cow, now surrounded by a fence. Unbeknownst to him, the man who heard them before begins to follow Cookie, carrying a gun. Lu and Cookie reunite at the shack, and Lu suggests they catch a ride on the nearest boat going south. Cookie, still suffering from his injury, has difficulty keeping up with Lu. Eventually Cookie lies down, his injury getting worse. Lu lies down beside him, saying that they will be safe there, unaware that they are being tracked. They rest in the same position as the skeletons found in the opening.

• John Magaro as Otis "Cookie" Figowitz
• Orion Lee as King-Lu
• René Auberjonois as Man with Raven
• Toby Jones as Chief Factor
• Ewen Bremner as Lloyd
• Scott Shepherd as Captain
• Gary Farmer as Totillicum
• Lily Gladstone as Chief Factor's Wife
• Alia Shawkat as Woman with Dog
• Dylan Smith as Jack
• Stephen Malkmus as Fiddler
• Mitchell Saddleback as Chief Factor's Servant
• Jared Kasowski as Thomas

In October 2018, it was announced that 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 would produce the film under their FilmScience and Scott Rudin Productions banners, respectively, while A24 would distribute.[8][9]

In November 2018, René Auberjonois was cast in the film.[10] In March 2019, it was announced that John Magaro had joined the cast of the film.[11]

Principal photography began in November 2018, taking place in Oregon like several of Reichardt's previous films.[12] The film was shot in a 4:3 aspect ratio.[13]

It had its world premiere at the Telluride Film Festival on August 30, 2019.[14] It screened at the New York Film Festival on September 28, 2019.[15] Although it was released in four theaters in the United States on March 6, 2020, the film was pulled from release by A24 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.[16]

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 96% based on 144 reviews, with an average rating of 8.5/10. 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."[17] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 89 out of 100, based on 41 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".[18]

A. A. Dowd and Katie Rife of The A.V. Club gave the film a positive review, praising its simplicity and precision in storytelling.[19]

At the end of 2020, 119 film critics ranked the film in their top-ten lists, including 18 ranking it first and 20 ranking it second.[20]

• First Cow at IMDb
• Script Archived February 9, 2021, at the Wayback Machine