Dead of Winter (2025) - 6/10

I’ll watch Emma Thompson in anything. Here she’s Barb, alone in workwear and a knitted hat, driving her Ford pickup through a cold, snowy and desolate Minnesotan landscape. The weather is bad, the roads are deserted. It’s certainly not shy on atmosphere. She’s out on a mission, on a frozen lake in memory of her husband, but while doing so, witnesses a disturbing encounter in the remote woods with a nameless man (Marc Menchaca) that leaves her with an uneasy feeling. Barb is made of tough stuff and soon finds herself trying to rescue a young captive, Leah (Laurel Marsden) from the man and his rather aggressive partner in crime (Judy Greer). It’s a standard crime thriller, but it’s certainly gripping. The backwater rustic setting helps, there’s no one around for miles. As does the diabolic and shambolic couples plan. It’s as grim and oddly understandable as they are inept. Barb is not inept. She’s hardcore, resourceful and resolute in her task. I’m not sure I’ve seen Thompson in a role like this before. There’s little dialogue, which might be as well, as her accent isn’t the best, but she makes up for it in spades with her polite rugged determination. “We don’t know what’s coming’, it don’t matter, we don’t quit”. Honestly, do NOT mess with Emma Thompson.

6/10