Opening Day: 19 August 2010

Synopsis:

A typical day on the slopes turns into a chilling nightmare for three snowboarders when they get stranded on the chairlift before their last run. As the ski patrol switches off the night lights, they realize with growing panic that they've been left behind dangling high off the ground with no way down.

With the resort closed until the following weekend and frostbite and hypothermia already setting in, the trio is forced to take desperate measures to escape off the mountain before they freeze to death. Once they make their move, they discover with horror that they have much more to fear than just the frigid cold. As they combat unexpected obstacles, they start to question if their will to survive is strong enough to overcome the worst ways to die?

Movie Review:

Just because the closest thing we Singaporeans have to snow is a particular amusement centre which replicates cold climate and snow doesn’t mean we aren’t scared stiff by the idea that we may one day be stuck in the freezing cold, eventually dying from hunger and loneliness. Which is why this drama thriller works like a horror movie for us – in a spine tingling manner that we won’t be forgetting in a short while too.

The story is straightforwardly simple. Watch how we sum it up in one sentence: Three skiers get stranded on a chairlift and are forced to make choices which will decide whether they live or die.

Really, nothing much else happens in the movie, and there is no need for much to develop either, given the circumstances. Director Adam Green knows what is efficient when you are telling a story like that. Wham, bham, hit and go – all in 89 jiffy minutes.

Trust us, in this one and a half hour, you’d be taken on a journey which is much more worth taking than many of those overwrought and bombastic Hollywood blockbusters which refuse to end. It’s no wonder then, that the film premiered earlier this year at the Sundance Film Festival to great reception. In fact, the no frills production caused quite a bit of stirs because of its intensity. Yes, it’s really that gripping.

You just need to put yourself in the three protagonists’ shoes, and you’d understand the panic and fear in them as they are left dangling in high air with no way down. Oh, there’s the freezing cold they have to deal with to. Did we mention the ski resort will remain closed until the following weekend? Can things get any worse? Obviously it can, as the three teenagers find out over the course of the movie.

Played by the fresh faced Emma Bell (you may have seen her playing bit roles in Law & Order and Ghost Whisperer), the chatty Shawn Ashmore (you probably know him as Iceman in the X-Men series) and the brooding Kevin Zegers (remember Felicity Huffman’s son in Transamerica?), they are a caricature of adventurous teens of today who would do anything to have that one opportunity to have a little more fun. The young actors may not deliver the most mesmerizing performances you’ve seen, but they do a fairly good job of portraying your average teenager – the type that is neither very likeable nor very obnoxious. 

So when they get into trouble and have to fight unexpected obstacles (let’s just say these are situations you don’t want to find yourself in on any given day), you feel the horror and terror they are going through.

The production values aren’t too bad either. Despite the seemingly cost effective setup, the cinematography by Will Barratt is effectively spellbinding, the editing by Ed Marx is precise to the point and the score by Andy Garfield manages to pull your heartstrings a little.

Green knows how to manipulate the audiences’ minds by alternating between simple dialogue scenes (as frivolous as they sound, the script is a spot on if you know what young people talk about these days) and intensely riveting sequences. You’ll hold your breath. You’ll squirm in your seat. You’ll gasp upon knowing the protagonists’ fates. And most importantly, you’ll wish that you never find yourself in such a situation.

Movie Rating:



(An efficient thriller that is horrifyingly gripping)

Review by John Li