When a thriller set in the depths of a snow blasted landscape is called Dead of Winter you just know that it has a dual meaning and that certainly proves to be true here. A small cast is led by Emma Thompson in a genre we rarely see her in and she is wholly believable as Barb the middle aged widow and owner of a fishing supplies store she ran with her late husband. It’s how the pair first bonded in a series of frequent flashbacks to 1982 when they began dating on the frozen lake she now returns in order to scatter his ashes.
Driving there she pauses to ask directions from a lone male (Marc Marsden) surprised by her arrival and he gruffly waves her in the direction of the lake. . But it’s not before her suspicions are raised having seen a splash of blood on the snow nearby and soon discovers that he has kidnapped a teenage girl he now keeps in his log cabin basement. But he is not alone in the endeavour as his angry wife (Judi Speer) who is in on it too but to what end is gradually and horrifically revealed meaning that Barb just can’t abandon the poor girl.
Essentially set in two locations. the log cabin and the frozen lake, the film can’t resist the now standard tropes of the mobile phone with no signal and a flesh wound having to be sewn up. But those are minor points as the flashbacks make Barb an even more sympathetic character as the now lone widow further isolated by the frozen landscapes with no one to call on to help her rescue the kidnapped teen. She’s on her own in every way possible.
Directed by Brian Kirk who has proved his credentials handling thrillers notably the recent Day of the Jackal TV series this is a terrifically entertaining film thriller that breezes along with a streak of melancholy that sets it apart from the standard thriller.
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Here’s the Dead of Winter trailer…..
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