During a snowstorm, a woman travels alone in search of a lake, only to come across a kidnapping of a young girl.
I’ll start with the main 3 reasons why you should watch it: Emma Thompson, Judy Greer, and Marc Menchaca. Menchaca has a long history of playing evil villains; he’s damn amazing doing so, and Dead of Winter is no exception (or, is it?) He’s astonishing, nonetheless. The pleasant exception is Judy Greer, who, here, is even more villainous. It’s unbelievable how this is the same actress as the suffering mother in The Long Walk (2025): https://kaygazpro.com/the-long-walk-2025/ (Give this woman the Oscar already). As for Emma Thompson, she plays the lonely, resourceful old woman like no one else, without Hollywood mannerisms or hyperbole. She’s phenomenal! Lastly, keep an eye out for Laurel Marsden, who performs really well. Now, as for the film itself…
Writers Nicholas Jacobson-Larson and Dalton Leeb, and director Brian Kirk, create an action/thriller that expresses the beauty of American cinema — even though it’s also a Canada-Germany co-production — that avoids Hollywood gimmicks, builds an emotional subplot as its foundation, and develops a thrilling plot. There are expected twists and turns, but the unexpected, breathtaking, and heartbreaking one lies in the subplot, which drives Barb (Thompson) to do what she does and connects to the plot so beautifully. It is what makes life bittersweet, worth fighting for, living for, and dying for. Respectively, whatever everyone does has a reason, and that reason is justifiable, blurring the line between “good” and “bad” person, and villain and antihero.
Give it a go and you won’t regret it. This is a survival story, and Barb says the way it is, or the way it should be, anyway: “[…] We don’t know what’s comin’. We never really do, but it don’t matter. We don’t quit.”
Thanks for reading!
Please, don’t forget to share. If you enjoy my work and dedication to films, please feel free to support me on https://www.patreon.com/kaygazpro. Any contribution is much appreciated and valued.
Solidarity for all the innocent lives that suffer the atrocities of war!
Stay safe!
