Both poignant and captivating, the latest feature film by Northern Irish director Brian Kirk, The Dead of Winter, which was presented in a world premiere on the Locarno Film Festival’s Piazza Grande, is dominated by the magnetic presence of Emma Thompson who plays a heroine who’ll stop at nothing to fulfil her mission. But what exactly is her mission? What hides behind this character who seems so placid and inoffensive, having spent her entire life surrounded by nature? The Dead of Winter keeps the audience on the edge of their seats with a story full of unexpected twists and turns, a tale both tense and cruel but also tender and full of humanity.

While crossing the snowy, storm-racked landscape of Northern Minnesota to go fishing, a woman (played by a poignant Emma Thompson) whom we soon learn has very recently lost her husband with whom she’d spent her entire life, randomly stumbles across a kidnapped teen (Laurel Marsden). Armed with nothing but an out-of-use phone and lost in the middle of the forest, the protagonist of The Dead of Winter realises she’s the girl’s only hope, a faint light at the end of a tunnel which seems to be swallowing her up. Held captive in a wooden cabin by a mysterious couple who are hatching an equally mysterious Machiavellian plan revolving around a grisly organ transplant, the teen has no choice but to trust her saviour. Determined to set her free, whatever the cost, our heroine stops at nothing, as if she’d nothing left to lose.

What’s surprising about Emma Thompson’s character is that, even though she manages to stand up to her attackers and always finds a way to get out of seemingly desperate situations, she’s actually a pretty “normal” woman who’s spent her life surrounded by nature in the company of her beloved partner. She’s not a superheroine endowed with superpowers, she’s a woman like any other who’s turned into a warrior by necessity and who’ll do anything to save a young life. We learn, through fleeting flashbacks, that her life has been fulfilling and happy, seemingly simple yet full of profound emotions. She’s been traumatised by her husband’s recent passing, but finding the girl seems to give her a second wind, as if her life had a purpose again and her heart had returned to beating.

The Dead of Winter is an implacable thriller which leaves the audience with bated breath, but it’s also a story about resilience, a profound yet poignant portrait of a woman who lives her life according to her own rules. Fierce and determined to say goodbye to her partner in the location of their first date, the protagonist of The Dead of Winter turns her body into a suit of armour, an instrument through which to impose her story and her own personal life philosophy. The film’s majestic photography dominated by the blinding white snow (courtesy of Christopher Ross) and the mysterious, poetic score composed by Volker Bertelmann transform The Dead of Winter into an ode not only to resilience but also to nature, a seemingly contaminated form of nature which is far more complicated than it seems, much like human nature.

The Dead of Winter was produced by Stampede Ventures (USA) and augenschein Filmproduktion in co-production with Leonine Studios and ZDF. World sales are entrusted to north.five.six (US).