NYFF Review: ‘A Long Winter’

After delivering an emotional powerhouse with All of Us Strangers back in 2023, director Andrew Haigh returns with A Long Winter, based on Colm Toibin’s 2006 short story of the same name. And although its themes are often too subdued or maybe even overcrowded to leave a bigger impact, A Long Winter thrives in its lead performances and personal approach. 

Haigh establishes a warmth within the dynamics and mountainside living of lead character Mike’s (Fred Hechinger) family while touching on the cold friction breaking through the surface. Despite their loyalty, Mike and his brother Tommy’s (Kit Connor) bedside chats about the constraining life their father (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) maintains highlights an unattainable freedom they crave. Although Mike’s mother (Caitriona Balfe) and father try to keep things civil out in the open, there are issues behind closed doors that permeate their lives with resentment and frustration. Mike’s mother honestly deals with her own sense of entrapment and carries a fast-growing, palpable disdain. Even with Haigh and cinematographer Andre Turpin making this beautiful snowy mountainside a near tear-inducing marvel, there’s this claustrophobic grip it has on everyone—further making them feel trapped in this setting. Haigh plants all the right seeds, right down to hinting at some ’50s nuclear family drama, to let tensions rise towards a blowup that defines the rest of the film. 

As these things eventually boil over, the film gains some intriguing genre skins that Haigh plays with nicely. The light mystery of Mike and his father desperately searching for his mother after she wanders into a snowstorm keeps you hooked on what’s happening in the narrative. Every venture into the cold unknown leaves a lump in your throat because of all the terrible possibilities of what they could find, and the stakes couldn’t be drearier. Mike’s determination and push against people’s belief that his mother’s suffered a fatal turn is legitimately pulse-pounding at times. There’s even some harsh discoveries thrown in that create some stinging, emotional turns in the story that give A Long Winter solid thrills. 

Within the drama of the main story surrounding Mike’s mother are the personal, coming-of-age threads Haigh thrives on. The way Mike challenges his father’s views and the life they’ve been living together is where Haigh’s directing style hits its peak. Mike’s arc is easily the strongest emotional tether this film offers because he deals with a lot of cathartic conflicts. Whether he’s fighting against his father’s heightened masculinity or floating through dreamlike realizations of his sexuality, Mike’s personal narrative holds well throughout the entire film. Honestly, given the style of setting, Haigh injects some modern Western vibes into A Long Winter that mix well with the film’s rustic aura and the growing up Mike goes through in this experience. Like All of Us Strangers, Haigh keeps the emotions between and within these characters palpable enough to be its own hook for the narrative—even if they don’t leave the same impact. 

A Long Winter has a lot going on thematically and Haigh often plays with multiple ideas in single scenes. But it’s rare when these themes are given the complete time or focus to linger after it’s over. It’s fair given that Mike is dealing with so much at once: his mother being missing, his father’s dominance in an empty household, and his own self-discovery (among other little characters and conflicts moving between the background and foreground). However, it makes it hard to have a bigger takeaway with A Long Winter and Haigh never breaks from his subdued storytelling style to give viewers a tangible, lasting thought.

Still, though, this isn’t a sharp drop-off for Haigh and there are big third act moments and striking performances that can’t go unrecognized. Although Hechinger has slowly built his presence in the indie scene, A Long Winter is a breakthrough for the young actor. He lays Mike’s feelings bare throughout and totally thrives in building this confidence and determination for independence that makes Mike’s bouts with his father intensely gripping. Moss-Bacharach also evolves his domineering yet comical persona on-screen nicely, delivering a strong blend of laughs and frustrated pauses in scenes to let that ’50s masculinity mindset bleed through to create some good drama. Even with the themes never truly standing out, the main throughline tied to finding Mike’s mother has big emotional swings. It’s something that’s never forgotten, and leads to a very strong ending scene that leaves you totally wrapped in the heartache and hope everyone feels. 

A Long Winter definitely doesn’t have the same emotional weight as All of Us Strangers, but it’s still another watch-worthy film from Haigh that further builds his reputation. The confidence and care he showcases for the narrative, atmosphere and these characters creates a uniquely shifty genre tale that offers good thrills and arcs that let you explore your emotions—even if only for a moment.

A Long Winter is currently on the festival circuit.