Blizzard scene for well-paced thriller FILM REVIEW

• Published date: 10 March 2022
• Publication title: Taupo Weekender

Directed by Damien Power

Reviewed by Jen Shieff

Blizzard. Road closed. Five people are stranded in a visitor centre in Utah, waiting for the road to reopen.

In the snowy, spooky half-dark, the central character Darby (Havana Rose Liu) goes out into the carpark in search of cellphone reception. A muffled cry comes from inside the only van parked there. A small hand slaps frantically against the steamed-up window. A sick child is locked in there, gagged.

The scene is set. The clock is ticking. Which of the other four in the visitor centre is a kidnapper or abductor? Who will be rescued? Who will die?

It’s a well-paced movie. You’ll find your most aghast moments are placed sufficiently far apart to allow you to catch your breath, and yet you’re watching a thriller, so you’re anticipating, fearfully, all the time. Suspense, thriller elements and horror provide plenty of satisfaction.

Thrillers have to first off make you care about the central character, the risk of harm to them, their loss of freedom. It’s easy to care about the flawed but clearly innocent Darby. She’s in rehab in the opening scene when she gets an urgent message. Her mum is dying.

From her remote location, Darby has to get to the hospital in Salt Lake City in time, but the highway patrol stops her from driving any further that dark and stormy night, directing her instead to the visitor centre, for safety. As if.

You’ll feel all the things Darby feels about being stopped, about the creepiness of the other four inside the visitor centre, and about the perilous situation of the child in the van, Jay (Mila Harris).

There’s an unexpected link between three of the other four characters in the visitor centre. Iraq war vet Ed (Dennis...