Dead of Winter: Is Emma Thompson the new Liam Neeson?

Thursday, 27 November 2025

Dead of Winter (R16, 98mins) Directed by Brian Kirk ****

Move over Liam Neeson. On this evidence, there’s a new United Kingdom actor looking to take on the mantle of cinema’s pre-eminent pension-eligible action star.

Seven years younger than the man who played her Love Actually sibling, Emma Thompson is simply superb as the recently widowed Barb.

Aiming to fulfill her late husband Karl’s wishes that his ashes be scattered where they had their first date – Northern Minnesota’s Lake Hilda – she strikes trouble when a snowstorm makes navigating the forest roads near impossible.

Spotting signs of life at a cabin, she seeks directions from the bloke chopping wood (Marc Menchaca), noting and slightly unnerved by the gun on the dashboard of his truck and the smatterings of blood on the snow nearby.

But, it’s while setting up her cabin on the iced-over body of water that Barb hears and sees things she can’t look away from. Shouting, gunshots and cursing are followed by a vision of that same guy chasing down a young woman (Laurel Marsden) whose hands appear to be bound together.

Barb’s initial thought is to flee the scene, but after her old Ford gets stuck, she decides it’s a sign that she should investigate instead. To her horror, she spies the girl tied up in the basement, but before she can do anything other than alert her to her presence, two cars arrive on the scene.

Hurriedly writing a promise on the window that she won’t leave without her, Barb retreats, unaware that she’s left a mitten behind. When the man’s purple-clad partner (Judy Greer) easily discovers both that and the note, she’s less than pleased with “the mess” he’s created, insisting that they track down whoever the author was as soon as possible, so as not to complicate their vital plans for their captive.

However, what they don’t know, is that Barb has been busy laying a trap that she hopes will not only ensure her own survival, but also buy her the time she needs to help liberate their prisoner.

Filmed in Finland and Germany, Northern Ireland director Brian Kirk (21 Bridges, TV’s The Day of the Jackal) makes terrific use of its wintry setting to deliver a taut, tense cat-and-mouse tale.

While there might be a touch of Fargo about the backdrop and a seemingly eccentric female protagonist, Nicholas Jacobson-Larson and Dalton Leeb’s story actually feels more like a cross between Panic Room, No Exit and The River Wild, as Barb’s battle with the dastardly duo – and the elements – ramps up towards a bleak, but beautiful ending.

Yes, there is a smattering of dark humour, but as Barb administers her own stitches a la John Rambo and finds herself in a situation “as dangerous as all heck”, the overwhelming feel and tone is one of dread and terror.

Dead of Winter is now screening in select cinemas nationwide.