While “Edge of Winter” has its tense moments, I couldn’t help but think how the film could have been made better if various plots involving the mother or some exciting rescue attempt was made. As banal it would have been, it would have still provided an ending with closure. But with how the film ended, I wasn’t satisfied with the ending at all. But the film could have been worse or even tragic. which I’m glad wasn’t the case.
© 2016 Wild Ontario men, Inc. and Baker Boys Productions Inc. All Rights Reserved.
DVD TITLE: Edge of Winter
YEAR OF FILM: 2016
DURATION: 89 Minutes
DVD INFORMATION: 2:40:1 Widescreen, English, Japanese, Portuguese and Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital Audio, Subtitles: English, English SDH, Chinese Traditional, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish, Thai
COMPANY: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
RATED: R (Language and Some Violence)
AVAILABLE ON: September 27, 2016
Directed by Rob Connolly
Written by Rob Connolly, Kyle Mann
Produced by Jonathan Bronfman, Kyle Mann
Co-Producer: Aaron Barnett, Michael Risley
Executive Produced by Jeff Sackman
Cinematography by Norm Li
Edited by Greg Ng
Casting by Kerry Rock
Production Design by Craig Lathrop
Art Direction by Andrea Kristof
Set Decoration by Mary Kirkland
Costume Design by Joanna Syrokomia
Starring:
Joel Kinnaman as Elliot Baker
Tom Holland as Bradley Baker
Percy Hynes White as Caleb Baker
Rachelle Lefevre as Karen
Shaun Benson as Ted
Shilo Fernandez as Richard
Recently divorced and laid off from his job, Elliot Baker (Joel Kinnaman, Suicide Squad; Run All Night) is desperate to spend more time bonding with his sons, Bradley (Tom Holland, Captain America: Civil War) and Caleb (Percy Hynes White, Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb). What starts as family day trip to teach his boys how to shoot turns into a nightmare when they become stranded. As they retreat to a desolate cabin, Elliot’s mounting fear of losing custody pushes him to the edge. The brothers quickly realize that the man responsible for keeping them safe has now become their biggest threat.
Rob Connolly has worked on the production-side of filmmaking for a variety of shorts, but in 2016, Connoly directed and co-wrote alongside Kyle Mann (producer of “Capote”, “Push” and “Wrecked”) the psychological thriller, “Edge of Winter”.
The film stars Joel Kinnaman (“The Killing”, “RoboCop”, “Run All Night”, “Safe House”), Tom Holland (“Captain America: Civil War”, “The Impossible”, “Locke”, “In the Heart of the Sea”), Percy Hynes White (“The Grand Seduction”, “Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb”) and Rachelle Lefevre (“Twilight” films, “White House Dawn”, “Under the Dome”).
And now will be released on DVD courtesy of Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.
The film begins with Elliot Baker (portrayed by Joel Kinnaman), an unemployed outdoorsman who is happy to have his sons Bradley (portrayed by Tom Holland) and Caleb (portrayed by Percy Hynes White) stay with him for a short while, while his ex-wife Karen (portrayed by Rachelle Lefevre) go off on their winter vacation.
The kids have not stayed with their dad all that long, but immediately they get a taste of his temper when they find his rifle and start playing with it and are caught by him.
But while we get to see Elliot’s temper, he then decides to take the kids to go out to the country and use the rifle. He wants to see his kids grow up to be good men and he sees this as perfect bonding time.
Bradley and Caleb are brothers that are often arguing with each other and Caleb often wanting to get the same opportunities as his older brother.
So, when Bradley starts to take a shot with the rifle, he hurts his arm and gives up, which shocks Elliot. But you can tell that Bradley is not having as much fun with his father.
As for young Caleb, he starts enjoying the time of shooting the rifle with his father. But when his father has him shoot at a rabbit, Caleb is left stunned that he shot a live animal and then watching his father put the rabbit out of his misery.
Wanting to see Bradley happy, Elliot then decides to bust through a gated area and have Bradley give his oldest son a chance to drive in the part of the country, despite the fact that Bradley doesn’t have a license.
And all goes well until, both brothers start to fight again and young Caleb is wanting to drive. This causes Bradley to crash the vehicle into a wall of snow and the snow gets stuck.
Elliot’s temper starts to flare again but he decides to find a way to get the truck out of the snow because of the frigid temperatures.
But as the three are inside the truck, trying to keep warm, Caleb accidentally lets a secret slip that their new stepfather received a promotion and that the entire family are planning to move the family to London.
This leaves Elliot distraught and emotional that he furiously starts pounding on the steering wheel, scaring the boys and seeing that their father has anger issues and is quite unstable.
With the three in the middle of nowhere, Elliot and his sons take a trip cross-country to find shelter.
And for Elliot, the emotionally distraught father starts to consider, what if he and his sons live in the middle of nowhere, living off the land, so they can’t be taken away from him. And if anyone gets near them, he will protect his children and prevent anyone from taking his sons away from him by force.
Meanwhile, both boys feel that their father has lost it and because there is no cell phone signal in the middle of nowhere, they are unable to call out for help. With his father having a tight leash on them, can they escape?
VIDEO & AUDIO:
As for the DVD, the picture quality for “Edge of Winter” is as good as one can expect on DVD.  The film is presented in 2:40:1 aspect ratio and audio (English, Japanese, Portuguese and Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital) is primarily dialogue-driven and certain scenes with outdoor ambiance and occasional action sequences.
Subtitles are in English, English SDH, Chinese Traditional, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish and Thai.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
“Edge of Winter” features no special features.
I first discovered Swedish actor, Joel Kinnaman in the 2010 film “Easy Money” and since then, his acting career has been wonderful as he had starring roles in film such as “Suicide Squad”, “Safe House”, the “RoboCop” remake, two more films in the “Easy Money” series and also TV series such as “The Killing” and “House of Cards”.
For the most part, I have enjoyed his films, but immediately, having watched the trailer for “Edge of Winter”, you immediately know where his character is headed as we see an emotionally, mentally unstable father going crazy.
Having watched the film, Kinnaman plays the rugged outdoorsman, Elliot Baker. A man who hasn’t had luck working in the great outdoors in the lumber industry and because he has tried to restart his life, he has not had much contact with his two children. But he enjoys being around them, whenever he has the chance.
When his two children, Bradley and Caleb stay with their father for the Winter, as his ex-wife and her new husband go on vacation, we see Kinnaman immediately trying to get his children to be grown men.
But unlike Elliot, his sons are nothing like him. They care less for the outdoors, they don’t shoot rifles, they are very much different.
And when Bradley tries to shoot a rifle and it hurts his arm, Elliot immediately tries to tease his son of not being man enough and trying to give him a little tough love. While Caleb wants to shoot a rifle and have fun. But quickly that fun ends, when Elliot has his son kill a rabbit. And for young Caleb, the thought of killing a living thing leaves him a sad because he never thought he would go that far, nor did he think he would actually kill the rabbit.
Elliot then tries to teach his oldest son to drive but when his sons start to bicker while Bradley is driving, things go out of control and they get into an accident and the truck is stuck in the middle of nowhere and temperatures are dropping quickly.
But this family outing with their dad starts to go downhill when the kids tell him that they are moving to London with their parents and will not be seeing their father. But their step-father will purchase a plane ticket, so Elliot can visit them in England. Needless to say, Elliot starts to lose it emotionally, mentally and he literally snaps.
So, the film starts to transition of a film of survival between a father and his two sons as they try to brave the elements and find shelter.
And as we see them go through some challenges, including a scene where Elliot falls through the ice on a frozen lake, what makes you feel could be a redeeming factor of father trying to help his children survive becomes a tale psychological horror as Elliot decides to hold the kids in a cabin, they will live there and live off the land and no one will take his kids away from him.
But it’s when we see people getting close to the cabin, we start to see Elliot start thinking in his head that everyone coming nearby are there to steal his children away from him. So, Elliot feels to protect his children, he must hurt/kill anyone that comes near the cabin.
And from there on, all hell has broken loose and the children, they realize their father is mentally ill and has lost it and now their lives are in danger.
As the story of a distraught parent is nothing new, the fact that we see in the news of murder suicides especially when a distraught parent handles a divorce or losing their family, mental illness is no doubt a problem in society and watching “Edge of Winter”, we know how bad things can turn out and watching Elliot, he simply has lost it and when he starts attacking and killing people, who he thinks are after his children, we immediately start hoping that the kids can find a way to escape.
As for the DVD, picture quality was good as one can expect on DVD.  The film is presented in 2:40:1 aspect ratio and audio (English, Japanese, Portuguese and Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital) is primarily dialogue-driven and certain scenes with outdoor ambiance and occasional action sequences. Unfortunately, there are no special features.
While “Edge of Winter” has its tense moments, I couldn’t help but think how the film could have been made better if various plots involving the mother or some exciting rescue attempt was made. Even exploring the source of Elliot’s behavior. As banal it would have been, it would have still provided an ending with closure. But with how the film ended, I wasn’t satisfied with the ending at all. But the film could have been worse or even tragic. which I’m glad wasn’t the case.
