Dead of Winter (MA) – 98 minutes

How do you handle it when the odds are stacked against you, the elements are playing havoc and you have a gun to your head?

That is the contention explored in the remote northern Minnesota wilderness in the peak of winter.

In this case, there are four main players – five, if you count flashbacks.

Barb (Emma Thompson) is a recent widow.

She was happily married for many years and during the ordeal that plays out, she reflects fondly on her courtship and union.

Barb sets off on a pilgrimage to a place called Lake Hilda, which is where she had her first date with her “man” and where she has promised to scatter his ashes.

When the weather closes in, she is disorientated and seeks help, as it turns out from the wrong quarters.

A man, known only as Camo Jacket (Marc Menchaca), has kidnapped a young woman named Leah (Laurel Marsden).

He did so to help his desperate wife, who is identified only as Purple Lady (Judy Greer). She is ailing and doesn’t want to die. That is where Leah will be useful.

When Barb inadvertently spots Leah chained up and gagged in the basement of the couple’s rundown home, the Purple Lady’s proposed intentions take an almighty hit.

That is because the ever-resourceful Barb will do everything in her power to help the young woman, promising not to abandon her.

Mind you, the Purple Lady is in no two minds about what she must do to proceed with her plan – and that is take Barb out.

Bear in mind that all this takes place two hours from the nearest town, in a place where there is no mobile phone reception.

Written by Nicholas Jacobson-Larson and Dalton Leeb, there is a Fargoesque (think the 1996 Oscar winning movie Fargo) conceit about Dead of Winter.

Director Brian Kirk (21 Bridges) has crafted a tense action thriller cum unusual love story, in which blood will be spilt.

While isolated, the setting is spectacular and features snowbound forests and frozen lakes. The cinematography is the work of Christopher Ross.

Emma Thompson is the glue that binds together this bizarre story, bringing perseverance and a “can do” attitude to the role.

As Barb, she relentlessly handles obstacle after obstacle.

Marc Menchaca brings a look of dead man walking to his part, caught up in a situation that always looks like it will consume him.

Notwithstanding the character she was playing, I felt Judy Greer could have dialed down a gear on her narrative outbursts. She had a tendency to overact.

Laurel Marsden was used only sparingly, while Gaia Wise plays a young Barb and Cúán Hosty-Blaney her husband to be, Karl, in the film’s reflective scenes.

While you could poke holes in some of the plotting, commendably, Kirk maintains an air of mystery about Dead of Winter until it reaches its conclusion.

So it is that this is a movie that offers quite some ride.

Rated MA, it scores a 7 out of 10 and is showing as part of the British Film Festival, going onto general release on 27^th November, 2025.