Minnesota nice meets Minnesota vice in this snowbound thriller that sees Emma Thompson deploy her best Marge Gunderson impression. Thompson plays Barb, a recently widowed woman who sets out on a mission to scatter her late husband's ashes at his favourite fishing spot, a frozen lake in the middle of nowhere (conveniently for plot purposes, one of the last corners of America with no cellphone reception).
After getting lost on the way, Barb stops at a cabin to ask for directions. There she finds a man (Marc Menchaca, his character credited solely as "Camo Jacket") chopping wood, with a suspicious splash of fresh blood on the snowy ground (where thrillers are concerned, blood and snow go together like pancakes and maple syrup) and a pistol with an attached scope on the dashboard of his car. In most parts of the world this would seem horrifying, but in hunting country Barb finds little reason to quibble when the man explains the blood came from a recently killed deer. Plus, he's nice enough to give her directions.
But when Barb finds the lake her memorial for her hubby is interrupted by gunshots. In the distance she sees Camo Jacket chasing a bound young woman (Laurel Marsden's Leah) before dragging her into the woods. With no cellphone reception Barb can't call for help, and when she tries to drive away her pickup truck gets stuck in the snow, gosh darnit. Figuring she's the only one who can help Leah, Barb turns retiree Rambo as she tries to free the abducted girl. Things turn deadly when Camo Jacket's psychotic, rifle toting wife (Judy Greer, billed as "Purple Lady" for her winter outfit).
We've seen the likes of Liam Neeson and Harrison Ford play action heroes in the twilight of their careers, but there's always a cartoonish quality to such movies with aging male leads. What makes Dead of Winter more interesting is that Thompson's Barb has no particularly unique "set of skills" that she can deploy in the fraught scenario in which she finds herself. She's not an ex Navy SEAL, simply a former bait store owner. But one thing she knows about is fishing, and she uses the tricks of that trade to bait and lure Camo Jacket and Purple Lady into her net. There are points where we roll our eyes at what initially seems like annoyingly dumb choices made by Barb, only to later realise it's all part of her master plan. Yet while Barb is resourceful, she's still just an average pensioner, so the stakes are raised considerably.
Irish director Brian Kirk largely does a good job of communicating the film's key points in a visual manner. Barb is an observant woman, and it's through her canny observations that much of the story is told. Thompson's performance is largely dialogue free and she's a skilled enough actress to be able to communicate Barb's feelings non-verbally. This makes the addition of flashbacks to Barb's younger days with her husband largely pointless. The way Thompson clutches the tackle box containing her husband's ashes tells us more about her love for him than any of the flashbacks.
Credit must go to screenwriters Nicholas Jacobson-Larson and Dalton Leeb for adding an unexpected, almost sympathetic dimension to their film's villains. It's nice to see Greer take a break from the weeping mother roles that seem to have recently become her stock in trade. When we learn the motivations behind Purple Lady's actions we develop some empathy, but Greer plays the role with such fiendish ruthlessness that this quickly erodes once we know just how much of a threat she poses to Barb.
A throwback to thrillers of the late 20th century, Dead of Winter is lean and purposeful in its storytelling. At just over 90 minutes it never drags unnecessarily. And in Thompson and Greer we have two actresses making the most of the sort of roles they're rarely afforded, and adding an extra dimension to this thriller in the process.
Directed by: Brian Kirk
Starring: Emma Thompson, Judy Greer, Laurel Marsden, Marc Menchaca
