Dead of Winter

This is a different acting role for Emma Thompson and in all honesty she does a pretty good job in Dead of winter ,it's a story about an elderly woman who is now a widower from the death of her husband,she is basically living all the memories of her late husband so Barb sets off in search of a remote and hard to find landmark. On route to Lake Hilda Barb ( Emma Thompson ) gets confused, when hitting a fork in the road, Barb is then encountered with local residents when meeting mysteriously. Acting oddly familiar and people behaving in an unexpected way.

It's a good psychological thriller with a twist plus a mix of love and hate,some brutal scenes and a fairly good story.

The negative about this film is It does have alot of silent areas in this movie which at times I thought I found unnecessary theres some really good cinematic elements of scenery and landscape and that makes up for it which is a plus.

The more I think of the plot the more painfully incredulous the motivating factors of the antagonists are laid bare. It is more than a bit bizarre and you wonder why on earth you would think they could do this.

Having said that, Emma Thompson really does carry the film. Her characters emotional depth is certainly felt and we instantly know how her backstory influences the decisions she makes during the course of the film.

The barrenness of the winter landscape certainly adds to the sense of emotional desolation but also later the strange sense of peaceful solitude.

Still, I think the initially different tone of this thriller develops into a fairly absurd plot that lets the film down a bit.

The movie was a bit slow but good lord every shot is beautiful. They use that blue-ish lighting that when combined with the expansive forrest transports to you the frozen wilderness. Emma Thompson is always awesome and Judy does a surprisingly good job in a villain role. Totally worth checking out in theaters while it's there.

I just watched. My rating is 5.0 - average at best.

What I like: the movie, most of all, has good cinematography. The barren, snow covered winter setting looks so peaceful, like someplace you'd read about in a Robert Frost poem. I like the lead actress. She is likable and charming, with her Sarah Palin-esque lines. The movie's set-up is excellent: the first 30-40 minutes really had me hooked, and I thought I was in for a great suspense/thriller

Unfortunately, I think the movie stumbles hard in the middle and end. The movie's pacing really begins to drag; certain scenes are drawn out to the point where they felt like fluff. Basically, I kept getting the feeling of, "Can this movie just move along now?" ... in addition, characters begin to make dumb decisions, like not killing someone when they have a chance. There's some bad CGI in the finale. The conclusion is unsatisfying. Given their intentions, the villains could and should have been presented with more shades of gray instead of the simple "they're the bad guys."

It's an average quality movie at best

5.0/10.

I'd give this film a 7.5. It was s solid thriller. I saw it at Screen Unseen at AMC. It was already on my list, so that was lucky.

No frills, no gimmicks, just good old fashion filmmaking. Story was basic, but the writing was good. The acting was believable for the most part. The pacing was good.

There were several predictable moments, but it wasn't all predictable. I loved the cinematography (10/10). The landscape offered some beautiful shots and they didn't waste it.

Good direction. Nice little flick. My girlfriend and I both enjoyed it.