Film Review — Dead of Winter

Not to be confused with Arthur Penn’s 1987 film of the same name, Dead of Winter could easily have been a run-of-the-mill piece of genre thriller fluff. However, it’s raised significantly above average by two factors: Firstly, the twists of the plot itself, with Nicholas Jacobson-Larson and Dalton Leeb’s screenplay proving more immune to “thriller logic” than usual (when protagonists make daft decisions to advance the story). Secondly, and even more emphatically, a first-rate central performance from Emma Thompson, as you’ve never seen her before.

A sixty-something Emma Thompson as action thriller lead? Why, yes. And she’s damned good at it, too. Not that her character, Barb, is in Arnold Schwarzenegger mode. Her back plays up from the beginning. What’s more, despite the outdoors-y grit she displays when going ice fishing in Minnesota, she’s far from invulnerable. She gets injured, sometimes seriously, leading to one particularly wince-inducing bit of DIY surgery. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

I’m keen not to give away too much about the plot. Indeed, I’d recommend avoiding the trailer as it commits the usual sin of showing too much. However, the setup involves Barb heading out to Lake Hilda for personal…