“We keep going. Simple as that.”
It’s so good to see Emma Thompson enjoy a worthwhile leading role again. It’s now been three years since Good Luck to You, Leo Grande gave the two-time Oscar-winner’s career a boost, getting her closer to another Oscar nomination than she’d had in years. The actress hasn’t wanted for work at all since then. On the contrary, Thompson has been booked and busy with a collection of varied projects. Turns in the likes of Cruella and Matilda: The Musical have seen her having an absolute blast. Still, how is the new thriller Dead of Night her first leading role since Leo Grande? I’m not sure I know why it’s taken as long as it has, but what is certain is that the work she does in this sometimes understated thriller has made the wait well worth it.
In Dead of Winter, the recently widowed Barb (Thompson) has traveled out to a frozen lake in the middle of the Midwest to go ice fishing as a way of paying tribute to her late husband Karl (Paul Hamilton). While there, she hears a gunshot, leading her to an old cabin where a husband and wife (Judy Greer and Marc Menchaca) are holding a young woman, Leah (Laurel Marsden), in the basement. Frightened, but determined to do the right thing, Barb sets about trying to save Leah while avoiding this dangerous and desperate couple.
What makes Dead of Winter come across as totally credible is the way it has its heroine realistically react to the situation she’s found herself in. Every person who has ever watched a movie like this has no doubt looked at the moves a character may have made and said: “If that were me, I would’ve done “xyz,” despite never having been in that kind of scenario before. Every action Barb takes feels like a real person responding naturally to the situation; one where she is clearly out of her depth and whose action movie instincts are developed gradually and believably as the situation grows even more serious. Also aiding Dead of Winter is the fact that the film’s moments of action and suspense are interspersed with surprisingly potent character beats in which Barb is allowed to mourn her husband. The fact that both sides of this film work as well as they do is miraculous.
Although Dead of Winter is on the smaller end where its budget is concerned, it nonetheless emerges as one of the most stunningly shot films of the year. The movie is blessed with some amazing cinematography, courtesy of Christopher Ross, who drapes the majority of the film in various forms of chilly blues and icy whites. There’s a crushed blue muscular tint that the film has which feels a little reminiscent of many indie films from the late 2000s/early 2010s. As I recall, many thought this kind of look was overused, and maybe it was. Here, however, it’s never anything but effective, especially in helping us to feel as isolated and helpless as Barb does. The film’s winter setting helps its overall look. With a sea of trees lending themselves to one gorgeous shot after another, the majestic and serene sense of place that’s established here is a great juxtaposition to the harrowing tale occurring within it.
It’s so great that at this point in her estimable career, Thompson is still finding roles to reinvent herself. Barb is not just a makeshift action heroine, nor a cipher to advance the plot by any means. She feels like a fully fleshed woman with a past. This is established less through the screenplay and more through the internal makeup Thompson has given her. In the midst of all the action is one of the most beautiful performances of the year. Manchaca and Marsden provide good support and help aid in the effectiveness of the film. Greer, however, feels embarrassingly miscast as the movie’s heavy, though her attempts are admirable.
Dead of Winter has one of my favorite themes in film, that of a person becoming someone they never knew they were. It’s always a beautiful event to witness, regardless of what genre it’s taking place in. Seeing how Barb manages to finds purpose in her life, even if it’s in a very extreme and heightened way only takes that theme further. By deciding to take it upon herself to rescue Leah, she’s honoring her husband, who we suspect would have done the same had the situation been reversed. Her instinct to help stems from the fact that Barb is also a good person, but one gets the sense that she’s also doing it to spare Leah’s loved ones the pain of losing someone, a pain which she herself cannot escape.
