Dead of Winter

"Wrong place. Wrong crime."

2025 1h 38m EN

👍

6.5

SOLID

★6.5TMDB · 493

ThrillerAction

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

A widowed fisherwoman, travelling alone through snowbound northern Minnesota, interrupts the kidnapping of a teenage girl. Hours from the nearest town and with no phone service, she realizes that she is the young girl's only hope.

“Wrong place. Wrong crime.”

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Cast

Emma Thompson
Barb
Judy Greer
Purple Lady
Marc Menchaca
Camo Jacket
Laurel Marsden
Leah
Gaia Wise
Young Barb
Cúán Hosty-Blaney
Young Karl
Dalton Leeb
Younger Hunter
Lloyd Hutchinson
Lawyer

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Brian Kirk
Writers: Nicholas Jacobson-Larson, Dalton Leeb, Stephen Forrest-Smith
Languages: English
Countries: Germany, United States of America, Belgium

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released last year.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 3 countries: Germany, United States of America, Belgium.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Brian Kirk, shot by Christopher Ross. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Volker Bertelmann. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Tim Murrell shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Emma Thompson and Judy Greer and Marc Menchaca carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "Wrong place. Wrong crime.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt7574556 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Brian Kirk directs. Christopher Ross behind the camera. Volker Bertelmann scores. Tim Murrell cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in Germany, United States of America, Belgium. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Released last year.
2International production across 3 countries: Germany, United States of America, Belgium.
3Directed by Brian Kirk, shot by Christopher Ross. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Original score by Volker Bertelmann. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
5Editor Tim Murrell shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6Emma Thompson and Judy Greer and Marc Menchaca carry the top of the cast.
7Marketing tagline: "Wrong place. Wrong crime.".
8IMDB entry: tt7574556 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
9Classified under 14 themes, including "kidnapping", "minnesota", "fisherman", "snow".

The technical file

Cinematography: Christopher Ross
Original score: Volker Bertelmann
Editing: Tim Murrell
Production design: David Hindle
Costume design: Natalie Humphries
Makeup / hair: Heiko Schmidt
VFX supervisor: Juri Stanossek
Sound: Corinna Fleig
Stunt coordinator: Teresa Henn
Runtime: 98 min · 1h 38m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Box office: $1,030,111
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: Dead of Winter (2025)

Also by

Brian Kirk

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Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2025-10-10
★ 7/10
With the ice on a remote Minnesota lake thick enough to need a saw to cut through it, “Barb” (Dame Emma Thompson) heads, replete with her handy little heated hut, to do some fishing. Her solitude is disturbed by a young woman who is forcibly returned to a nearby house, and upon some sleuthing she discovers that not only has she been kidnapped, but that her captor (Marc Manchaca) and his even more desperate wife (Judy Greer) have a dastardly plan for her that it’s going to fall to this ill-equipped woman to thwart. There are no phones and they are both armed, dangerous and soon aware of her presence. Can she stay one step ahead of them, rescue the girl, get to the bottom of their malevolent intent and fulfil her own purpose for being here at this inhospitable time of year? The cinematography of this bleak and chilly wilderness is gorgeous to look at and there is something quite original from a plot that maybe doesn’t go into too much detail, but that provides an interesting vehicle for a star who quite literally has a drip on the end of her nose as the snow gradually takes on a more menacing hue. There isn’t a great deal of dialogue to worry about, just some chilly photography and a sinister plot that I felt definitely at the better end of the genre from 2025.
The Fixate & Binge Podcast, w/ Joe Curdy2026-07-29
★ 6/10
DEAD OF WINTER isn't groundbreaking in its premise or bursting with originality-- but for fans of Emma Thompson's body of acting work, her performance alone carries the film throughout in this cat and mouse suspense, survival thriller. With a smart, linear story, and Thompson playing a more than meets the eye widow who stumbles upon a backwoods kidnapping -- DEAD OF WINTER delivers in every way films of this genre do, but usually with male protagonists. Thompson's character may just as well have wandered off the set of the Coen Brothers 1996 FARGO film. Co-starring Judy Greer in her most unhinged role to date and the always fantastic Marc Menchaca -- with Finland standing in for the subzero Minnesota -- grab a heated blanket, a nice cup of Hot Chocolate and try not to chew your fingernails off. Streaming now on HBO, it is well worth a watch.
tender_buttkiss2026-08-17
★ 3/10
At one point Judy Grears character reveals that the plan is to perform this illegal life saving surgery on the ice only becauae then once she and her husband are done they can easily dump the body into the frozen lake. Or, ya know, wait until it's warmer, do the surgery in a sterile environment, then dump the girls body in the lake by boat. And even after watching I still have no idea what illness Judy Grear's character was suffering from that seemed to necessitate her doing an illegal organ harvest. That had to be done in winter?