She then directed Meek's Cutoff, a western starring Michelle Williams. It competed for the Golden Lion at the 67th Venice International Film Festival.
Her debut film River of Grass was released in 1994. It was nominated for three Independent Spirit Awards, as well as the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival. In 1999, she completed her sophomore feature, Ode, based on Herman Raucher's novel Ode to Billie Joe. Next, she made two short films, Then a Year, made in 2001, and Travis, which deals with the Iraq War, in 2004.
In 2006, she completed Old Joy, based on a short story in Jon Raymond's collection Livability. Daniel London and singer-songwriter Will Oldham portray two friends who reunite for a camping trip to the Cascades and Bagby Hot Springs, near Portland, Oregon. The film won awards from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, Rotterdam International Film Festival, and Sarasota Film Festival. Neil Kopp won the Producer's Award at the 2007 Independent Spirit Awards for his work on Old Joy and Paranoid Park.
For her next film, Wendy and Lucy, she and Jon Raymond adapted another story from Livability. The film was released in December 2008 and earned Oscar buzz for lead Actress Michelle Williams. It was nominated for Best Film and Best Female Lead at the Independent Spirit Awards.
Reichardt's latest film, Certain Women, is based on Maile Meloy's 2009 collection of short stories, Both Ways is the Only Way I Want It, and was shot in March/April 2015 in Montana. Michelle Williams, Laura Dern, and Kristen Stewart are starring. Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions (SPWA) bought the rights to distribution. The film premiered Jan. 24, 2016 at the Sundance Film Festival.
In 2013 her film Night Moves debuted in competition at the 70th Venice International Film Festival.
In October 2016, Reichardt revealed that for her next film she will be collaborating with author Patrick DeWitt in an adaptation of his novel Undermajordomo Minor, which could possibly be shot outside of the U.S.
