Weekly Review -- Just chillin'
Frozen (2010) -- Ah, winter. Time for Christmas, skiing, sledding, hot chocolate in front of the fireplace, getting stuck on a ski lift... oh, wait. Generally no one's idea of a good time, the latter is exactly what befalls the protagonists of Adam Green's newest venture, and yes, the outlook is grim indeed.
Three winter sports enthusiasts (Shawn Ashmore, Kevin Zegers and Emma Bell) spend a fun-filled weekend at a ski resort. Right before leaving, they decide to have another go at the slopes, but their plan quickly turns into a nightmare when they are accidentally left stranded on a ski lift, with no chance of rescue. Frightened and cold, they have to rely on their wits and each other to possibly escape, but the situation proves to be even more complicated than it initially appears...
I had thoroughly enjoyed Green's horror comedy Hatchet and was looking forward to a seemingly more primal and sobering film, with Frozen delivering on all fronts. The debacle it represents is not a zombie apocalypse that wipes humanity out or a supernatural monster on the prowl; in the vein of Open Water and The Strangers, Green's latest focuses on a relatively plausible scenario, caused by most disagreeable happenstance. There are no computer graphics, histrionic music, quick startles or any other unnecessary effects. There is painfully earnest dialogue and the occasional bout of violence that, though anticipated in the context, is somehow always unexpected in its abrupt brutality, rendering the proceedings a lofty and worthwhile investment for the audience.
The actors are relatable and understated. Newcomer Emma Bell steals the show as the spunky newbie snowboarder, while Ashmore and Zegers play off of each other nicely as best friends caught up in an event that they are unable to fathom. Hiring up-and-comers for this kind of introspective drama was a perfect casting solution, being that any huge Hollywood star would have reduced the believability factor to zero. After all, it is people like you and me that get lost in the middle of nowhere, not Anne Hathaway and Leonardo DiCaprio.
Frozen is a creepy little film that plays on the universal fears of demise and abandonment, and that exploits its themes for all they are worth. Green is aware that the most frightening situations are always borne of the most ordinary of circumstances, not of noise and fanfare. Michael, Freddy and Jason might be the figures that make us hide behind the sofa, but they are not the shadows that provoke our deepest anxieties. Real terror is concealed within the silence of a snowy night, the darkness of isolation and the knowledge that your screams cannot be heard, no matter how desperate you may become.
9/10
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