| Dead of Winter | |
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| US theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Brian Kirk |
| Written by |
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| Produced by |
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| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Christopher Ross |
| Edited by | Tim Murrell |
| Music by | Volker Bertelmann |
Production companies |
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| Distributed by | Vertical |
Release dates |
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Running time | 98 minutes [1] |
| Countries |
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| Language | English |
| Box office | $2 million [2] |
Dead of Winter is a 2025 action thriller film directed by Brian Kirk and written by Nicholas Jacobson-Larson and Dalton Leeb. It stars Emma Thompson, Judy Greer, Marc Menchaca, and Laurel Marsden.
The film had its world premiere in the Piazza Grande section of the 78th Locarno Film Festival on August 8, 2025, before its theatrical release on September 26, 2025.
After her husband's death, widow Barb sets out to fulfill his last request to have his ashes scattered in Lake Hilda in northern Minnesota, where the two had their first date. During a snowstorm as she drives there, she takes an unintended detour to a nearby cabin and asks a suspicious looking man, Camo Jacket, for directions. She notices blood on the snow, which he says is from a deer. When Barb reaches the lake, she sees Leah, a young woman with her hands bound trying to escape from Camo Jacket, but he retrieves her.
Barb returns to the cabin to investigate and finds the young woman tied up in the basement and overhears the man talking his wife, Purple Lady. Purple Lady finds Barb’s mitten outside the house, along with evidence that she had been talking to the kidnapped girl. They go in search of her.
Barb sets up her husband's old ice fishing shack on the frozen lake as a trap. The couple approaches with guns, and Camo Jacket falls into a concealed hole in the ice. Unable to get Leah out of the cabin basement, Barb floods most of the cabin. The couple returns and Purple Lady shoots Barb in the arm before she escapes. Barb flees back to her truck, which has had its wiring torn apart.
Camo Jacket is hypothermic from falling into the water, so Purple Lady goes to look for Barb on her own. Barb sneaks back to the cabin and manages to break into Camo Jacket’s car and use the radio for help, before he interrupts her. They scuffle and Barb stabs him in the foot. It is revealed that Purple Lady is a terminally sick hospital employee. Leah, who had been admitted to the hospital after a suicide attempt, is now the target to have her liver harvested to save Purple Lady’s life, but time is running out. Barb convinces Camo Jacket to drive to the nearest town and get the police before going to the hospital himself. He agrees but on the way is intercepted by Purple Lady.
Barb blows up her truck to hopefully be a signal for help. Two hunters stop for her on the road and they all drive back to the cabin to try to help Leah, but Purple Lady shoots and kills them both. Barb finds Camo Jacket dead in the car. Barb manages to shoot Purple Lady in the leg, but Purple Lady knocks her out and she wakes up chained in the basement with Leah. Barb manages to free herself but Purple Lady catches them before Leah can get free. Purple Lady forces Barb and Leah to accompany her back to the lake at gunpoint.
Arriving at a makeshift medical tent in the middle of the lake, Purple Lady forces Barb to duct tape Leah to a surgical bed, and proceeds to hurriedly mark her torso for the liver removal. Purple Lady and Barb fight, starting a fire in the tent, while Leah manages to free herself, and all three of them escape the burning tent back onto the ice. Barb handcuffs Purple Lady to her and drags them both into the icy water. As both the wounded women sink to their deaths, Barb releases a metal box of her husband’s ashes. Leah, now safe, looks at a photo of Barb and her husband.
In February 2024, it was announced that an action-thriller film titled The Fisherwoman was in development with Brian Kirk directing and Nicholas Jacobson-Larson and Dalton Leeb writing the screenplay. Laurel Marsden, Emma Thompson and Judy Greer were cast in the lead roles, alongside Gaia Wise and Marc Menchaca. Principal photography began on February 26, in Koli, Finland and North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. [3] [4] In Finland, Thompson praised the skills of the local working crew, [5] even writing a laudatory letter dedicated to the Finns, published by Helsingin Sanomat . [6] [7] Because of this, the Finnish president Alexander Stubb personally called Thompson and thanked the actress "for her beautiful words, trust in Finns and welcomed her back to Finland". [6] [8] Filming wrapped in June 2024. [9]
In March 2025, the film was retitled to The Dead of Winter, with Vertical acquiring North American rights. [10]
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes , 76% of 63 critics' reviews are positive.The website's consensus reads: "Emma Thompson takes a polar plunge into action territory with Dead of Winter, a chilly thriller that wears one too many layers of backstory but still satisfies as a tense showcase for its estimable star." [11] Metacritic , which uses a weighted average , assigned the film a score of 69 out of 100, based on 14 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews. [12]