Like a virus, desperation thrives in the unforgiving cold of Northern Minnesota in “Dead of Winter.”
The environment heightens the largely engrossing kidnapping thriller, which is in theaters this week.
Its principal characters are desperate — mostly desperate to survive. However, the primary figure, Emma Thompson’s Barb, is desperate to save the life of another.
Barb has returned to this largely uninhabited area to visit a lake that played a key role in the life she shared with her late husband.
“Ya HAD to pick the middle of nowhere,” she grumbles to herself before venturing outside for a task that later will become clear.
On the frozen-over body of water, as she’s about to accomplish what she came to do — Thompson reminding the viewer of her talents as a long tear eventually cascades down Barb’s face — she hears gunshots and voices. She hides behind her truck as a young woman is chased by a man who insists his next shot won’t miss if she does not return to him.
Barb had encountered this man, referred to as Camo Jacket (Marc Menchaca), at his cabin while seeking directions to the lake amid the wintry conditions, so she soon ventures back there in the hope of discovering what foul business is afoot. Looking through a window, she sees the young woman, Leah (Laurel Marsden), restrained in the basement.
Arriving next is Purple Lady (Judy Greer), the short-tempered wife of Camo Jacket. She confirms with him that the abduction of Leah went as planned — he assures her that, yes, the girl was where his wife said she’d be — and scolds him for drinking during this all-important endeavor.
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What Purple Lady wants from Leah becomes clear over time. First, though, Purple Lady becomes aware of Barb’s involvement, setting into motion what becomes a shifting game of cat and mouse. Purple Lady and Barb try to outsmart each other, the action shifting between the cabin and the lake.
Working from a screenplay by Nicholas Jacobson-Larson and Dalton Leeb, Irish filmmaker Brian Kirk serves up a taut affair, one with enough, but not too much, tension. “Dead of Winter” makes you hold your breath occasionally but largely lets you take in that brutally cold air.
It makes you want to see more big-screen work from Kirk, whose credits include 2019’s “21 Bridges” and myriad TV series episodes, including three first-season installments of “Game of Thrones” and, more recently, three servings of the solid British series “The Day of the Jackal,” available in these parts on Peacock.
The film’s largest flaw is that Jacobson-Larson, Leeb and Kirk make next to no effort to develop Leah into a character. She feels too important to the story to be nothing more than Purple Lady’s prize. Furthermore, the kidnapper does make a claim about Leah that seems ripe for exploration, but we don’t get that.
Conversely, the character of Barb is nicely fleshed out, with renowned actress Thompson (“Howard’s End,” “Sense and Sensibility,” “Nanny McPhee”), as you’d expect, nuanced in her portrayal of this determined woman who tiptoes into the realm of the unlikely action hero. (In flashbacks that inform the character, Barb is portrayed as a young woman by Thompson’s daughter, Gaia Wise, and the resemblance is unmistakable.)
While movie and TV veteran Greer (“The Best Christmas Pageant Ever,” “Stick”) is solid, Menchaca (“The Outsider,” “Ozark”) turns in the other standout performance. Without giving away too much, Camo Jacket doesn’t exactly have the time of his life as the events of “Dead of Winter” unfold, and Menchaca conveys his struggle skillfully.
(A quick digression: Did the writers and directors think of the movie reviewers who would have to write “Purple Lady” and “Camo Jacket” repeatedly? They couldn’t have just been, say, Jennifer and Steve?)
A few gripes aside, “Dead of Winter” is a well-executed enterprise. It’s modest in ambitious, sure, but Kirk and Co. likely had a relatively small budget, and, if that’s a correct assumption, they’ve made the most of it.
Unfortunately, as summer has just given way to fall, it’s a harsh reminder that, for many of us, a cold winter is coming.
‘Dead of Winter’
Where: Theaters.
When: Sept. 26.
Rated: R for violence and language.
Runtime: 1 hour, 37 minutes.
Stars (of four): 2.5.
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