05/10/25

Cineworld, Edinburgh

Dead of Winter has only been granted a limited screening in UK cinemas before moving on to streaming, but provided a multiplex near you is showing it, it’s well worth making a trip out for. This edgy action thriller has me in its tenacious grip pretty much from the word ‘go.’

Barb (Emma Thomson) leaves her remote home in Northern Minnesota to make the arduous drive to the even more remote Lake Hilda for a reason that’s only gradually revealed as the story unfolds. As you might guess from the film’s title, she’s chosen a pretty challenging time of year to undertake her journey. On the way to the lake, she stops off at an isolated homestead to ask for directions and encounters ‘Camo Jacket’ (Marc Menchaca), who is acting in a decidedly suspicious manner. Barb can’t help but notice an ominous splash of blood in the snow, which the man attributes to ‘deer.’

She continues to the lake where she engages in a spot of ice-fishing, but then witnesses a young girl fleeing from Camo Jacket. Barb watches horrified as she is dragged back in the direction of his cabin and then follows at a distance. It’s soon apparent that the girl is being held hostage in the cellar of the man’s house. But what can Barb do? She cannot call the police since there’s no phone signal in these parts, but she’s nevertheless determined to help Leah (Laurel Marsden) and will not quit, even when Camo Jacket’s trigger-happy wife, The Purple Lady (Judy Greer), turns up at the cabin and the bizarre motives behind the kidnapping are explained…

Written by Nicholas Jacobson-Larsen and Dalton Leeb, and masterfully directed by Brian Kirk, Dead of Winter alternates scenes of extreme tension with gentler flashbacks to Barb’s youth, where she’s played by Thompson’s real life daughter, Gaia Wise. While I involuntarily bristle at nepotism, I have to grudgingly admit that this is a convincing move and, happily, the enormous potential for sentimentality in these scenes is skilfully side-stepped: indeed, I find them genuinely affecting.

We’ve all seen those ‘geri-action’ movies where elderly men miraculously transform into athletic heroes, capable of throwing kicks and punches like pros, but this iteration keeps everything within the realms of believability. Barb shows the limitations of her age but also displays her stubborn determination to just keep going no matter what, putting one snow-boot in front of the other. And, having existed in this hostile land for many years, she has a few tricks in her tackle box that will give her a competitive edge.

The snowbound locations, often filmed using drones – it was actually shot in Finland – look absolutely ravishing on the big screen, and you’re uncomfortably aware of the sub-zero temperatures throughout. Those of a nervous disposition should be warned that a scene where Barb is obliged to perform surgery on herself – with a fishing hook – might make you want to avert your gaze.

It’s impossible not to watch this and picture Frances McDormand in the lead role but Thompson is a brilliant actor and captures this character in every detail, as well as doing a very creditable job of handling the Minnesotan accent. Greer is also compelling as a woman driven to unreasonable acts by her own tragic circumstances. It’s only in the final scenes that all the pieces fall into place and I manage to get my breathing back to its usual rhythm.

4.4 stars

Philip Caveney