With January approaching and the first major snowstorm of the season behind us—well, for some of us, at least—it's getting to be that time of year when cinephiles hunker down and binge-watch their own curated movie marathons. The winter season is very cinematic; the bitter temperatures, foggy breath, and snow-covered landscapes are often characters of their own in movies that take place in the dead of winter.
The still and silent cold of the winter season lends itself well to the mystery genre, which boasts a plethora of excellent wintry titles to choose from this time of year. Here are ten winter mysteries to watch while you're snowed in.
10 The Ice Harvest
This isn't your typical Christmas movie, but, for audiences looking to send the holiday season off in sick, twisted style, look no further than The Ice Harvest. This criminally-underrated dark comedy tells the story of a shady lawyer who tries to swindle the local Wichita Falls mob boss out of his fortune on Christmas Eve.
The great Harold Ramis directs a fantastic ensemble cast of sleazy double-crossing boozehounds in this endlessly entertaining mystery crime caper that's full of sinister twists and turns.
9 Wind River
Director Taylor Sheridan burst onto the A-list in 2016 with his hit indie western, Hell or High Water. The following year, he switched locales from the arid Texas desert to the wintry Wyoming mountainside for the equally impressive Wind River.
As a mystery, it delivers all of the expected goods. But, what's truly special about Wind River is its moving third act which takes place after the crime is solved, when a classic whodunit morphs into a meditative retelling of the classic "Cowboys and Indians" story.
8 Dead of Winter
The great Arthur Penn directs this mystery about A New York City actress lured into a sinister blackmail scheme under the guise of a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to star in a major motion picture. Mr. Murray, her would-be "director," takes her to his upstate mansion in the middle of a blizzard, where the shenanigans ensue.
This film is the ultimate slow burn, as the first hour is mostly exposition. But, for audiences with the patience for it, Dead of Winter is an effective wintry thriller that's worth the time investment.
7 The Hateful Eight
The blizzard in writer-director Quentin Tarantino's The Hateful Eight can rightly be billed the "ninth" character in the film. Tarantino is a stickler for details, and so the sound of the howling wind and the foggy breath of its miscreant antiheroes creates the perfect mood for this Civil War-era chamber mystery about eight strangers forced to take shelter in a remote cabin while they wait out the storm.
The Hateful Eight contains all of the classic Tarantino trademarks: a great ensemble cast, lyrical dialogue, explosive violence, and an intriguing plot with plenty of tricks up its sleeves.
6 The Thing
Tarantino's The Hateful Eight has been compared to the 1982 John Carpenter classic The Thing, and for good reason. They both star Kirt Russell, they both take place in bitter cold, snowy locales, and they're both about a group of people trapped in a setting where perhaps no one is who they seem to be.
In this case, a team of stranded researchers is accompanied by a shapeshifting alien who inhabits its victims before killing them in horrifying fashion. The Thing is a true classic, though not recommended for the faint-hearted or weak-stomached viewer.
5 Insomnia
Insomnia was Christopher Nolan's highly anticipated follow-up to his breakout mystery thriller Memento. Part of its genius is its unconventional use of the winter setting. Rather than snow and darkness, Insomnia is drenched in sunlight and fog, as the northern Alaska town where it takes place goes months at a time without a sunset.
This is perhaps one of Nolan's most subtle film in his catalog, but it still boasts his signature mind-bending trippiness in unexpected ways and holds up well upon repeat viewings.
4 Hold The Dark
Though unrelentingly bleak, disturbing, and tragic, Hold the Dark is a rewarding watch for those who make the effort. Jeffrey Wright stars as a writer who's called to the Alaskan wilderness to locate the bodies of three children taken away by wolves. He soon uncovers the horrible reality of what actually explains their disappearances, which sets the film's sinister plot in motion.
Hold The Dark, in the end, leaves the audience with more questions than answers. Nonetheless, it's gripping and thrilling from beginning to end.
3 The Grand Budapest Hotel
On a lighter note, Wes Anderson's mystery caper set in the fictitious snowy eastern European nation of Zubrowka is a delightful, whimsy comedy that fits perfectly into any winter movie marathon. When the concierge of the title hotel is framed for the murder of one of its wealthy guests, he must solve the crime before the authorities catch up to him.
It's a fairly typical premise, but there's never anything "typical" about a Wes Anderson movie. The Grand Budapest Hotel is widely considered one of his best films, and for good reason.
2 Winter's Bone
Before becoming an international superstar as Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games, Jennifer Lawrence earned a Best Actress nomination for her performance in Debra Granik's Ozark-set mystery, Winter's Bone. Lawrence plays Ree, the oldest of three sisters, who has to track down her disappeared father before her home is repossessed and they're thrown out on the streets.
Winter's Bone is a stark, realistic drama with an unforgiving and gut-wrenching conclusion. Nothing about it screams "Hollywood," and that's for the best.
1 The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
Director David Fincher's adaptation of the hit Stieg Larsson novel The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo is one of the last big-budget adult dramas to come out of the Hollywood system before superhero movies and franchise series began dominating studio production timelines. As he never got to finish the trilogy, this film is often forgotten about, but it's fantastic nonetheless.
Its mystery unfolds at a snail's pace, but, given Fincher's attention to detail and Rooney Mara's excellent performance in the title role, that's a good thing, and the payoff is well worth the wait.
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