"Winter Passing" is bleak. Reese Holden is a troubled young woman living in New York City. Daughter of famous novelists, mother dead by suicide, she returns to her rural Michigan hometown after receiving a lucrative offer to sell her parents' love letters.
Upon arriving, Reese discovers a starkly changed home. Her once-renowned novelist father has become a reclusive alcoholic living in the garage. The home is occupied by two... unconventional... strangers. As Reese navigates the icy landscape of her past searching for the letters, she confronts her own emotional turmoil and the fractured bonds within her family.
Performances, particularly from Zooey Deschanel as Reese and Ed Harris as her father, are excellent. Will Farrell is completely convincing in his unlikely role. For each of these characters life has been a struggle.
The film perhaps goes a bit too far at times painting itself dark. It is raw, understated and strange. This is an all but hopeless exploration of loss and regret that can be quite disturbing at times. "Winter Passing" is predominantly melancholic in tone from beginning to end. Its quiet desperation, and bleak and somber emotional winter reflects each characters' inner turmoil and the harshness of the setting.
This is a hard film to categorize. And it's good, even if not everything works. It's a good thing that films like this can be made now and then.
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