The Dead of Winter is a 2025 action-thriller directed by Brian Kirk.
A widowed fisherwoman, travelling alone through snowbound northern Minnesota, interrupts the kidnapping of a teenage girl. Hours from the nearest town and with no phone service, she realizes that she is the young girl’s only hope.
BARB (Emma Thompson), the widowed owner of a small fishing tackle store, sets off on a pilgrimage to Lake Hilda, in remotest northern Minnesota. This is where she took her first vacation with her recently deceased husband and this is where she has promised to scatter his ashes. Hit by a blizzard, she gets lost among backroads near the lake and stops for help at an isolated cabin in the woods. Here she discovers a young woman, LEAH (Laurel Marsden), is being held captive by a desperate armed couple. The kidnappers, known only as PURPLE LADY (Judy Greer) and CAMO JACKET (Marc Menchaca) are armed and intent on murder. Spurred on by the memory of her husband, but hours from the nearest town and without any cell phone service, Barb realises she is the young woman’s only hope of survival. What follows is a merciless thriller that plays out in an epic wilderness, with a beautiful love story at its heart.
DIRECTOR STATEMENT by Brian Kirk
THE DEAD OF WINTER is a merciless kidnap thriller, set in an epic wilderness, with a beautiful love story at its heart. It’s bursting with emotion and tension, delivers explosive set pieces and wrestles with the timeless question of how we make sense of life in the face of death.
It takes us on an incredible journey into the bleak isolation of Northern Minnesota, where Barb Sorenson, the recently widowed owner of a small fishing tackle store, risks everything to save a stranger. Barb is hopelessly out of her depth, but she’s kept afloat by the memory of her husband. And it’s not in her nature to quit. That’s why we are telling her story.
Emma Thompson, a double Academy Award winner and five-time nominee, brings stature, intelligence and humanity to every role, but we’ve never seen her give a performance like this. Though Barb’s grief is profound, she has no time for self-pity. This moment requires a hero.
Kidnap stories are usually motivated by sex or money, but all our characters are driven by the primal urge to survive. Purple Lady (Judy Greer) is ready to kill to save her own life, and her husband, Camo Jacket (Marc Menchaca) has no choice but to help. Their intended victim (Laurel Madsen) is a suicidal teenager, who discovers what her life is worth when faced with losing it. Everyone is entangled in a dance with death.
The other outstanding character is the natural world, in all its beauty, scale and indifference. This endless landscape of snowbound forests and frozen lakes was a transformative experience to film and creates an enormous canvas for the story.
Alone out here, it’s impossible to avoid a reckoning with your own mortality, or to forget that life is a cycle. Barb knows better than anyone that no-one lives forever, but she is not afraid to die because she has truly known love. That’s why she never gives up and that’s why her story will endure.
The film was inspired by a blend of survival thrillers, real-world isolation, and the emotional resilience of women in extreme circumstances.
The story was conceived by writers Nicholas Jacobson-Larson and Dalton Leeb as a character-driven thriller set in the unforgiving wilderness of northern Minnesota. They drew from true accounts of rural isolation and the dangers of winter terrain, crafting a narrative where nature itself becomes a formidable antagonist.
The screenwriter’s approach to the screenplay focused on crafting a character-driven thriller that balances emotional depth with relentless suspense.
Drawing inspiration from real accounts of rural isolation and survival, they built the narrative around a widowed fisherwoman who becomes an unlikely protector in a snowbound wilderness.
The writers emphasised minimalism in dialogue and setting, allowing the stark environment and the characters’ actions to drive the tension.
The screenplay’s lean structure and intense pacing reflect the writers’ intent to create a visceral experience—one where silence, snow, and solitude become as threatening as any villain.
Emma Thompson’s character—a widowed fisherwoman—was written to reflect strength, vulnerability, and the instinct to protect, inspired by stories of women who’ve faced danger alone and persevered. The film’s stark setting and themes of survival, sacrifice, and unexpected heroism were also shaped by Kirk’s interest in exploring how ordinary people respond to extraordinary threats.
Brian Kirk is an Irish film and television director born in 1968 in Armagh, Northern Ireland. He is best known for his work on high-profile series such as Game of Thrones, Luther, Boardwalk Empire, and Dexter, as well as directing the feature films 21 Bridges and The Dead of Winter (2025). Kirk’s career spans both UK and US productions, with a reputation for crafting tense, character-driven narratives across genres. He studied English at Edinburgh University and later earned a postgraduate diploma in Film & Television from Bristol University. His directing style often blends atmospheric tension with emotional nuance, making him a sought-after talent for both television and film.
Nicholas Jacobson-Larson is a Los Angeles-based composer, conductor, and screenwriter. He serves as musical director and arranger for Michael Bublé and has collaborated with artists like Paul McCartney and Jon Batiste. As a film composer, he’s scored numerous acclaimed documentaries, including the Oscar-winning The Queen of Basketball. In screenwriting, he partners with Dalton Leeb, co-authoring projects like Endurance (Netflix), Hot Wheels (Warner Bros), and The Dead of Winter. Their script Strongman earned a spot on the 2017 Black List. Jacobson-Larson’s creative range spans concert compositions, film scores, and narrative storytelling, reflecting a deep versatility across disciplines.
Dalton Leeb is an American actor and screenwriter known for his roles in indie films such as Feeding Mr. Baldwin and One Day Like Rain, as well as appearances in TV series like Greek. As a writer, he collaborates with Nicholas Jacobson-Larson on screenplays that blend emotional depth with genre storytelling. Their work includes The Dead of Winter, Hot Wheels, and Endurance, with Strongman earning critical acclaim on the Black List. Leeb’s background in performance informs his writing, bringing a grounded, character-focused sensibility to his scripts. He maintains a dual career in acting and writing, with multiple projects in development across film and television.
