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USA | Canada | Germany 2025
Opening February 19, 2026

Directed by: Brian Kirk
Writing credits: Nicholas Jacobson-Larson, Dalton Leeb
Principal actors: Emma Thompson, Judy Greer, Marc Menchaca, Laurel Marsden, Gaia Wise, Cúán Hosty-Blaney

The celluloid’s dank gray, moody, and snow-shrouded frozen surroundings seep through into audiences’ seat-warmed bones. Northern Ireland director Brian Kirk has his compass set firmly on the hard-to-find Lake Hilda in Minnesota’s forested far north in the dead of winter.

Few would believe the “Gone Fishing” sign is her destination when She (Emma Thompson) flips it over and heads for her pickup truck. With Karl’s tackle box on the passenger seat, she tucks an old Polaroid under the visor. For the first time in years she heads for “their” lake, then gets lost during the blizzard. Unbeknownst though, Camo Jacket (Marc Menchaca) is the wrong person to ask for directions. Too soon she is trying to rescue the young, kidnapped teenager Leah (Laurel Marsden), plus stay alive. With the reckless Purple Lady’s (Judy Greer) arrival, their chances decrease; She frantically tries to remember survival maneuvers. Between hammering heartbeats and discovering her cell phone is dead are evocative, decades-old reminders and recollections of her and Karl (Cúán Hosty-Blaney, younger and Gaia Wise, older) that bring warmth to her eyes and a smile to her lips. The cat-and-mouse match is well underway when two hunters (Brían F. O'Byrne, Dalton Leeb) find her, then drive to the isolated ramshackle house. Although leery of her story, they are cautious only to a degree. Still in the game, She coaches Leah with her grandfather’s winter tale, ending, “He kept going.” Karl obviously taught her well.

John Papsidera and Nathan Toth’s awesome cast bring the multifaceted, dynamic screenplay by Nicholas Jacobson-Larson and Dalton Leeb to life. Emma Thompson’s acting prowess demonstrates her character’s full-flush of emotions that play across her face and through body language. Backstories emerge, fleshing out the complexities of a relatively solitary/simple life that lends itself to the generational morality passages. Director of photography Christopher Ross’s compelling range and scope of visual imagery create mesmerizing pivotal scenes that dissolve into an infinity with the landscape; filmed in Finland, Thompson praised the Finnish production team’s professionalism. Tim Murrell’s astute editing flexibility maintains coherency for audiences about the characters’ lives/actions, as is Volker Bertelmann’s score oppressively flinty, temperamental yet benevolent. In Dead of Winter, audiences are reminded of natures impact on humanity’s imperfections and its indiscriminate poetic justice. 98 minutes (Marinell H.)