The action-thriller genre is one that has not had much deviation or real evolution in a long time. Key to its success is making characters that the audience cares about and giving them a good cause to fight for, which works for their character growth. In a broader spectacle thriller, the spectacle is the main focus, but in smaller-scale thrillers, the characters have to do a lot of the heavy lifting. When I heard that, of all people, Emma Thompson would be starring in a new action-thriller, I was taken aback, to say the least. The same quintessentially British darling Emma Thompson, who is famed for romance films, some British comedies, and, for my generation, Nanny McPhee (2005). Though she may be the last person I would have thought for a role like this, I was very curious to see how she would fare. The film is called Dead of Winter, and it really takes Thompson’s career to a completely different place. Unrecognizable with a strong, twangy American accent, she grits her teeth and delivers a unique performance that has worked really well for her. Crucially, though, it is how she sells her character’s tender story that makes this film work, carrying the weight of the narrative to make the thrills land well. It is endlessly solid and utilises its setting well to create an ice-cold thrill that ends up being one of this year’s nicest surprises.

Dead of Winter follows Barb (Emma Thompson), an elderly woman who works at a bait and tackle shop in snowy Minnesota. Lonely and widowed recently, she often reminisces about her wonderful times with her husband Karl. One day, she decides to go to Lake Hilda, where they spent a lot of time together in their early days, and do some fishing like she used to love. However, she gets a bit lost, and due to being in the middle of nowhere, she has no service to find out where she is. When asking a local for directions to the Lake, Barb notices blood on the snow in their driveway. The man (Marc Menchaca) brushes it off as just a deer he hunted, but Barb is suspicious. When she finally arrives at the Lake, she hears screams and notices a girl (Laurel Marsden) running through the nearby woods, by that very same man that she just spoke to. Following them back to their cabin, Barb notices the girl tied up in the Man’s basement and makes a promise to get her out. Though when another woman (Judy Greer) arrives and starts ordering the man around, it becomes clear that this is not just a simple kidnapping.

Most of the reason this film is so solid comes down to Emma Thompson and her character, Barb. She perfectly sells the image of this sweet, neighbourly old lady, but at no point does she ever seem like a pushover, either. Characters with agency are so important in stories like this because it is hard to align yourself with them when they are oblivious to everything and just bumble along like it’s a matter of circumstance. Whilst the story is a matter of circumstance, Barb makes that promise to that girl, and from that point on, she is fully committed to getting her out of her horrible situation. There is an element of Barb having nothing left to lose, and so she will put her energy into rectifying something so horrific. It is balanced very well with her own personal story and backstory, filtering all the grit and desperate situations with effective flashback sequences that paint a picture of what she really went to the Lake for. It is constantly engaging and both Barb’s own story and plot tie together very neatly at the end. None of the other characters are named, apart from the girk who we later find is called Leah in a nice moment, but that does not stop them from being interesting. Judy Greer delivers a magnificently cold performance and her character is unshaking in her cause. It becomes immediately clear that she is ill and that she needs Leah for something to help her. She is brutal and will not let anybody stand in her way, not hesitating to shoot anybody, including Barb. Seeing the difference in dynamic between Barb and Menchaca’s character, and him and Judy Greer’s character is so interesting because the power saps from him whenever Judy Greer is around. Although rather simple in her goals, she is an effective villain and true foil to Barb, showing appropriate menacing behaviour and yet not a lack of humanity.

Another strong quality this film has is its setting, and it adds to the excitement and feel of the film greatly. The harsh snowy conditions make the survival elements of this film stand out more, as the environment is already predatory in itself. Obviously, Fargo (1996) is a point of inspiration that director Brian Kirk does not hide here, and there is certainly nothing wrong with that. There is also something very imposing and much more dramatic about blood on snow, of which there is plenty. It accentuates the colour of it quite viciously, which in turn seems to signal more danger. The setting also allows for more inventive action and tension, again due to that more predatory environment. One sequence shows Barb tricking one of the couple to fall into the icy lake, which then affects them for the rest of the film as they struggle to get themselves warm again, due to Barb making sure they did not have anything to dry themselves with. With Barb living in this environment clearly for most of her life, it makes her more capable, and she knows exactly what it takes to survive in it, meaning she also knows how to manipulate that to her advantage. Barb’s background in this setting is also important for her character in general, and it brings much more melancholy and loneliness when showing her in the present and then back when she was with her husband. The desolation of the frozen lake and her travelling on it alone is upsetting because it further emphasises her isolation. In fact, a lot of the cinematography frames Barb just on her own in these big open spaces, which just makes you feel for her and her story more.

Dead of Winter is a film that came out of nowhere, and yet I definitely welcome it. This is a surprise career deviation for Emma Thompson, but she nails it, and I hope that she continues to do more like this and encourages others to perhaps step out of their comfort zone or typecast. All the performances are great, and their character writing is just as good. Though this can be by the numbers in terms of a thriller plot, and it can feel quite simplistic, the setting keeps that from becoming too much of an overbearing problem. This is a really solid film, and though it is never going to rock anybody’s world, it is a thoroughly engaging and entertaining flick. It releases in cinemas tomorrow (September 26th) in the UK and the US, so give it a watch.