Snow Cake

2006 1h 52m EN

👍

7.1

SOLID

★7.1TMDB · 200

RomanceDrama

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

A drama focused on the friendship between a high-functioning autistic woman and a man who is traumatized after a fatal car accident.

“Some stories are better left unspoiled.”

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Where to watch · US

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Cast

Alan Rickman
Alex Hughes
Sigourney Weaver
Linda
Carrie-Anne Moss
Maggie
Emily Hampshire
Vivienne Freeman
James Allodi
Clyde
Janet van de Graaf
Meryl
Julie Stewart
Florence
Selina Cadell
Diane Wooton

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Marc Evans
Writers: Angela Pell
Languages: English
Countries: Canada, United Kingdom

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

MONEY

Did you know

Earned back only 12% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 20 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 2 countries: Canada, United Kingdom.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Marc Evans, shot by Steve Cosens. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

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

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

ERA

Did you know

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

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Alan Rickman and Sigourney Weaver and Carrie-Anne Moss carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0448124 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Marc Evans directs. Steve Cosens behind the camera. Kevin Drew scores. Mags Arnold cuts. A commercial under-performer on release. Produced in Canada, United Kingdom. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Earned back only 12% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.
2Released 20 years ago.
3International production across 2 countries: Canada, United Kingdom.
4Directed by Marc Evans, shot by Steve Cosens. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by Kevin Drew. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Mags Arnold shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Alan Rickman and Sigourney Weaver and Carrie-Anne Moss carry the top of the cast.
8IMDB entry: tt0448124 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
9Classified under 13 themes, including "dying and death", "small town", "canada", "unsociability".

The technical file

Cinematography: Steve Cosens
Original score: Kevin Drew
Editing: Mags Arnold
Production design: Matthew Davies
Costume design: Debra Hanson
Makeup / hair: Gail 'Freddie' Godden
Stunt coordinator: Shelley Cook
Runtime: 112 min · 1h 52m
Status: Released
Budget: $12,000,000
Box office: $1,381,665
Return: 12% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): NR
IMDB: Snow Cake (2006)

Also by

Marc Evans

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2025-12-22
★ 7/10
“Alex” (Alan Rickman) is driving north towards Winnipeg when he encounters the young “Vivienne” (Emily Hampshire) and gives her a lift. She’s quite an entertaining co-passenger, but before they can get to know each other better their car ends up in a crash with an articulated lorry and she is toast. He is in shock, but still determines to track down her mother “Linda” (Sigourney Weaver) to convey his apologies and condolences. What he finds when he knocks on her door, though, is the last thing he expects. She is so terribly matter of fact about the accident, about his innocence in the whole affair and then politely closes the door. Luckily, he has a gift that she bought for her and that gets him into the house, offered some fairly unpleasantly sounding ‘erbal tea and presented to a lady who is clearly on the autistic scale somewhere. Her house is meticulously organised, she cleans throughly and even still sleeps in the bunk bed she has occupied since she was three. “Alex” offers to stick around and help her out, and gradually the two begin to establish a functioning relationship as the funeral approaches. The neighbours also offer their sympathies, but he is warned off “Maggie” (Carrie-Anne Moss) as she’s an hooker, apparently, and the local cop “Clyde” (James Allodi) isn’t so keen when he does actually start to befriend “Maggie” after taking the dog for a walk a few times. With the sad date fast approaching, all the characters are now given space to develop, to unveil their own individual demons and all against a backdrop of middle America in mourning. Rickman was always good at playing the laconic, sarcastic, persona and he does that well here - but he also brings quite a degree of humanity and compassion to his role, too. Moss, likewise, is on solid form and as for Weaver, well I think this might be her finest performance to date. She masters the role of a clever and entirely coherent woman living in a shell that’s partly of her own making and that is now exposed to a life without her daughter whom she found “very interesting”. There’s a lot of chemistry here, there’s precious little sentiment - I’m not sure the “l” word is used at all, and there are some lovely one-liners as the story progresses towards something we know is going to be inconclusive yet satisfying (so long as the bin men show up). It’s intimately photographed, and it’s very lack of cheesiness makes it quite a touching and personable story, well worth a watch.

Production companies