Written by Nicholas Jacobson-Larson and Dalton Leeb
Directed by Brian Kirk
Starring Emma Thompson, Judy Greer, Marc Menchaca, Laurel Marsden, Brían F. O'Byrne USA/Germany, 2025
Emma Thompson goes against type as a Minnesota widow who finds herself fighting kidnappers in an attempt to save a young girl from their murder plot. This is all set against the backdrop of an isolated frozen lake in… you guessed it… the DEAD OF WINTER.
Part DIE HARD, part FARGO, the movie’s most interesting when you get to see Emma Thompson do stuff like shoot people, blow up trucks and get into fist fights. It’s less interesting when it indulges in flashbacks explaining why she’s at this particular isolated lake at this particular time.
Thompson stumbles ass-backwards into a kidnap plot and realizes she’s the kidnapped girl’s only hope, setting about trying to infiltrate the kidnappers’ cabin, call for help, anything. The fun of the movie is watching how she develops plans, puts them into motion, and seeing the setbacks that crop up.
Unfortunately, the tone’s all over the place. This is a movie not only about a suspenseful kidnap rescue but also about multiple different kinds of grief and rumination on death, which makes it awkward when we can tell the filmmakers want us to think it’s sorta funny that Thompson’s character is springing into action. Not only is that tonally weird, but it also undermines the characters’ capabilities (she’s extremely capable) and unfortunately reminds us of FARGO. I understand just because FARGO exists it’s not like you’re never allowed to have another woman with a midwestern accent be more cunning and resourceful than you’d expect, but this movie kind of tries to hit some of the same notes a few too many times, thus making it impossible not to think of the much better movie that I’d rather be watching.
I’d be remiss if I did not mention the villainous performance, also against type, by national treasure Judy Greer. I could have used more of her and less of the flashbacks, please.
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