CRIME DRAMA. “Dead of Winter.” / “Down River.” / “Killer Heat.” / “Assassination Nation.” / “Taken in Broad Daylight.”

“Dead of Winter” (2025, Amazon Prime)  psychological thriller. A grieving widow drives through a Minnesota blizzard to scatter her husband's ashes. Stars Emma Thompson. 


       This thriller carries a heavy backstory that is easily engulfed by the emphasis on Emma Thompson's grieving Barb. Overall, the dramatic tension between Barb and the characters of Judy Greer and Marc Menchaca's define this dreary but watchable movie. 🎥💻📽


“Down River” (2025, Amazon Prime) crime thriller. Set in West Virginia coal country, it follows a sheriff and deputy investigating a crime at an abandoned farmhouse. 



       This is a decent enough small town indie. Tight storytelling. Directors Brian Barnard and Tommy Walton confined the narrative to a minimalist reach, anchored on the performance of “unknown” actors Randy McDowell and Jody Thompson, who also co-wrote the screenplay. 🎥💻📽


“Killer Heat” (2024. Amazon Prime) neo-noir mystery. On a remote Greek island, twin brothers find themselves entangled in a tumultuous love triangle. A troubled detective, known as the jealousy man, is brought in to investigate the case.



       Supposedly a “modern noir” that succumbed to bland predictability. Joseph Gordon-Levitt's characteristic cool-boy arrogance matches up with Shailene Woodley's icy sorta charm and Richard Madden's cadaverous (literally) presence. The result is a lukewarm ride. 🎥💻📽


“Assassination Nation” (2018, Paramount+) satirical black comedy horror thriller. The film takes place in the fictional town of Salem, which devolves into chaos and violence after a computer hacker discovers and leaks personal secrets about many of its residents. 



       Odessa Young, Suki Waterhouse, Colman Domingo, Bill Skarsgård, Joel McHale. These performers are usually fine. Not one this gory silliness though. 

       This wild movie may appeal to younger viewers. For them, this is sort of stylish. Throw in the socially aware elements and you get a better “Scream” franchise. I mean this whacked-out ride even won some minor awards elsewhere. 🎥💻📽


“Taken in Broad Daylight” (2009, Fawesome) drama. Based on the true story of a young woman, who was abducted from a Nebraska shopping mall in 2001. The film focuses on her six-day captivity, during which she used psychological manipulation and left clues to orchestrate her own rescue from her captor. 



       This is a Lifetime project so as expected, a soap operatic confection. Sara Canning as Anne Sluti and James Van Der Beek. as her abductor Tony Zappa, gave a convincing performance but this film still suffers from unimagination and “kidnapping” genre cliches. 🎥💻📽


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