Emma Thompson has a new movie out, “Dead of Winter” that is a thriller  and showcases her considerable talent. Irish director Brian Kirk directed Chadwick Boseman in “21 Bridges” previously and has done an equally good job with this story of a grieving widow (Emma Thompson) who travels to a remote lake in northern Minnesota (Lake Hilda) to scatter her dead husband’s ashes and stumbles into a kidnapping.

LOCATION

Thompson is shown driving through snowy forested lands that are really Finland, but supposed to be northern Minnesota. I grew up not far from Minnesota (northern Iowa) and, to me, it did not resemble the Minnesota areas I have visited. I was just in the Twin Cities for a friend’s birthday, in fact. But nevermind that small complaint. It’s cold and appropriately snowy. Finland, Germany and Belgium collaborated on this one, with an Irish director and another Irish co-star, Brian F. O’Byrne, who recently portrayed a priest in “Conclave.”

JUDY GREER

The villain of the piece (lady in purple) is played by Judy Greer, who was the wife in actor Michael Shannon’s directorial debut in 2023, “Eric LaRue,” which I saw in Chicago at the Chicago International Film Festival. Greer gets to play a true psycho in this one. She and her doormat husband (Marc Menchaca) have kidnapped a young girl (Laurel Marsden)  and have her chained up in the basement.

Thompson stumbles upon the chained  girl after asking for directions to the hard-to-find lake. When she discovers the girl in the basement, she writes a message on the basement window vowing not to leave Leah (the captive) unrescued. One might ask why Barb doesn’t erase the message written in the condensation on the basement window, so as to avoid detection, but she did also leave footprints, so perhaps it would not have mattered. It does seem like a very amateur mistake from the determined Barb, who is so innovative that Judy Greer’s character even says to her, “You’re a clever bitch, aren’t you?” No giving away the truly creative ways she struggles to free the young girl, nor will I reveal why the couple has kidnapped her in the first place.

FLASHBACKS

Throughout the story there are flashbacks to young Barb Sorenson on her first date with young Karl at the very same Lake Hilda that she is now revisiting to ice fish, (she says, when asked). Gaia Wise and Cuan Hasty-Blaney play young Barb and young Karl in  polaroid photos that go back to 1982, when Barb and Karl had their very first date ice-fishing at Lake Hilda.  The single tear that rolls down Barb’s cheek as she looks at the old photo is perfection.

MORAL

Barb’s lesson for life was similar to that of famed basketball coach Jimmy Valvano. As Wikipedia reminded me, “Valvano is remembered for an inspirational and memorable speech delivered at the 1993 ESPY Awards while terminally ill with cancer. Valvano implored the audience to laugh, think, and cry each day and announced the formation of The V Foundation for Cancer Research whose motto would be “Don’t give up. Don’t ever give up“.[6] He gave the speech less than two months before his death from adenocarcinoma at age 47. The ESPY Awards now include the Jimmy V Award named in his honor.”

In this film, the screenplay by writers Nicholas Jacobson-Larson and Dalto Leeb has Barb telling the young Leah, whom Barb is determined to rescue, “We don’t know what’s coming. We never really do, but we don’t quit.” And that sums up the moral of this one.

CONCLUSION

The film is well-paced and a great thriller with a wonderful performance from the always reliable Emma Thompson. At 98 minutes, it was a real delight. The plot takes a little while to kick in, but when it does, expect an exciting story that won’t disappoint. “Dead of Winter” opened in theaters on Saturday, September 27th.