Film Review: Dead of Winter

Welcome back to the blog readers. One thing in this business that we very rarely get anymore is the element of surprise. That feeling when you have no idea what to expect when you go into the theater is one that I wish I could always have, but the oversaturation we get does not allow for that to happen much anymore. So going into this week's "Mystery Movie Monday" at Regal, I truly had no idea what to expect. Would the gamble pay off in the end? Stick around to find out.

Dead of Winter was directed by Brian Kirk from a screenplay by Nicholas Jacobson-Larson and Dalton Leeb. The film stars Emma Thompson, Judy Greer, Marc Menchaca, Laurel Marsden, and Brian F. O'Byrne. In the film, a grieving widow finds herself in the middle of a kidnapping plot in the middle of frozen-over northern Minnesota.

Like I alluded to in the introductory paragraph, this was the film Regal showed for their "Mystery Movie Monday" this week, and I cannot say I have heard of this film before this week. That means I really had no expectations for this film going in, something I have had for films in the past like The Critic (2024). And I honestly think Dead of Winter was the wrong title; it should have been called Dead of Boredom. Emma Thompson gives too much of an overdramatic performance and the pacing is pretty poor, but I truly do love the score of this film.

I want to start by talking about the performance of Emma Thompson. Thompson is turning into one of the more reliable names in the business, lending herself to projects like Brave (2012), Cruella (2021), and Beauty and the Beast (2017). So seeing her name in the opening credits gave me a sense that she would add a bit of stability to this film...which makes me upset that her performance was one of the weakest aspects of the film. As I said in the previous paragraph, Thompson's performance was a bit overdramatic, to the point where I groaned whenever she was taking too long to do something (or even that annoying as shit Minnesotan accent). Plus, her mannerisms did not feel like her at all, and it kind of sucks because I have liked what I have seen of her so far in her career.

Next up on the chopping block has to be the pacing of this film. In case you do not remember (or you are new to my blog; in that case, welcome along), 2025 has been the year of pacing in films being absolutely terrible. Films like The Alto Knights, The Conjuring: Last Rites (both 2025), and others have had really bad pacing issues, and this only highlights the struggles we have had this year. Like I mentioned in my analysis of Emma Thompson's performance, her taking multiple minutes to "stitch" herself up after being shot, break free of the shackles she was put in by Judy Greer's character, and almost comically parade around this cabin and make the sweaters cold with water? Those scenes should have been shortened because they feel like one of those gags from Family Guy (1999-) that goes on painfully longer than they should.

And finally, I want to talk about the story. I mean there is nothing in this film that one has not seen before in this genre. The protagonist becomes an unexpected hero when they find themselves in the middle of a dastardly plot that they inevitably wind up foiling? We have seen that before, but this film does not do a very good job of distinguishing itself from the other films like that. The tropes feel and very much are familiar, but I do commend the writers for giving us a bold ending that I honestly did not see coming (even though the film is extremely predictable).

But the one area of this film that I actually liked turned out to be the score. You haven't seen this film yet, but Volker Bertelmann composed the score for this film, and he has absolutely been killing it since he won his Academy Award. All Quiet on the Western Front (2022), Conclave (2024), Dune: Prophecy (2024-), and the upcoming Ballad of a Small Player (2025)? He is killing it right now, and he really knows how to make a banger score for a mediocre film and make it feel impactful for every beat of it you hear. This won't get him any Oscar love, but I absolutely would nominate his score because he is turning into one of my favorite composers in the game.

In conclusion, Dead of Winter is a by-the-numbers action thriller that wastes the talents of Emma Thompson and Volker Bertelmann with lazy and convenient writing. Thank you all for reading, and I will see you for the next post.