Dead of Winter Parent Guide

Dead of Winter can be described in one word: glacial. The setting is frozen and the story moves at an agonizingly slow crawl. By the time the film was over, I was bored and my hands were cold just from watching 98 minutes of blood-splattered winter unfold across the big screen. If that sounds unappealing, you can quit reading now. But if you are still considering watching this film, keep going…

The story centers around Barb (Emma Thompson), a practical, no-nonsense senior citizen from northern Minnesota. It’s the dead of winter, and she’s snow-fishing at Lake Hilda when she witnesses the attempted shooting of a young woman (Laurel Marsden). Determined to save the girl, Barb follows, only to find her gagged and chained in the basement of a dilapidated house. For the rest of the film, Barb plays a bloody cat and mouse game with the kidnapper and his unhinged wife (Marc Menchaca and Judy Greer) across the snow-covered Minnesota wilderness.

I must credit director Brian Kirk for making a winter film that looks cold. This wasn’t a lazy movie that was shot in summer with shredded paper used to mimic snow. Dead of Winter was filmed in Finland and everything about it looks convincingly wintry. What isn’t convincing is the amount of time characters spend outdoors without gloves on. I live in a winter climate and I know how fast your hands will freeze if you don’t wear mitts. This is why I could feel my hands getting chilly as I watched. (Way too much empathy here.)

Unfortunately, I don’t have other compliments to offer. The plot is unconvincing, and I can’t share more details without giving away the twist. The acting is fine, but I don’t think this is Emma Thompson’s best work. She’s always struggled with accents (Beauty and the Beast and Last Christmas are sad examples) and her American midwestern accent is carefully assumed but never completely convincing. She manages to portray Barb, but never becomes her, to the extent that I never forgot I was watching Emma Thompson playing Barb. That makes it difficult to be completely immersed in the movie.

Other problems include negative content, particularly two dozen sexual expletives, frequent use of an unnamed drug, the kidnapping of a young girl, and non-stop scenes of firearms violence, intermixed with hatchets, and attempts to drown people in a frozen lake. This isn’t a clean movie, it isn’t a fun movie; and it isn’t an exciting movie. I’m not sure who wants to watch it, but I certainly don’t want to sit through this frozen nightmare again.

About author

Kirsten Hawkes

Kirsten Hawkes has a BA in Political Science and English and has worked in international development and medical education and marketing. Kirsten enjoys reading, watching movies, and debating politics with her husband and sometimes unwilling children.