Emma Thompson starrer action thriller Dead of Winter, is about resilience, courage, and presence of mind. Barb, the film’s hero, is someone you would want to root for, and Thompson pretty much carries the film on her shoulders. Gripping and thoroughly entertaining, it’s one of those films that are predictable yet fun to watch. Barb traveled to Lake Hilda, a remote lake located in northern Minnesota, to scatter the ashes of her late husband, Karl. She remembered going fishing in the frozen lake on their first date in 1982. They’d been together since, and the place remained significant in their lives. It was a stormy day, but Barb was determined to make it to the lake and fulfill Karl’s dying wish. Retracing the path she and Karl had once made filled her with joy, but at the same time, her heart ached knowing that he was gone. As Barb tried to navigate through her mixed emotions after reaching Lake Hilda, she heard the screams of a young woman who was being chased by a man with a gun. She’d seen the man on her way to the lake. He helped her with direction, though Barb had noticed the blood on the snow right outside his cabin. He’d claimed that it was from the deer he’d hunted, but clearly he’d lied.
Spoiler Alert
Why did the couple kidnap Leah?
Leah, the young woman, surrendered after her abductor fired a few shots in her direction. Barb decided to save the victim and postpone her plans of scattering Karl’s ashes. She knew that Karl would’ve done the same. The lessons that they had learned as a couple and the person that she’d become in the relationship guided her during her rescue mission. After her van gave up, she sneaked up to the man’s cabin and peeked into the basement window. She signaled Leah and reassured her that she would not abandon her. Meanwhile, Barb discovered that the man in the camo jacket was accompanied by Purple Lady. She was the one who’d come up with the plan, and when she discovered Barb’s mitten lying outside, she cursed her husband for not being more careful. We soon find out that Purple Lady was suffering from a terminal illness, but she refused to accept her fate and planned on carrying out an illegal operation that she believed would heal her. She used to work at a hospital, and that was where she came across Leah. She had repeatedly attempted to end her life, so Purple Lady thought she didn’t deserve to live at all and was therefore her perfect victim. She thought it was unfair that someone who didn’t want to live was saved over and over again while her life was cut short even though she appreciated her existence. The surgery that she thought would rewrite her fate was possibly a scam. A fake doctor likely made her false promises, and there was, of course, no guarantee that it would work.
Barb started a fire in her portable cabin, and the smoke caught the attention of the couple. After they left, she finally entered the cabin and interacted with Leah and promised to find a way to help her out. Since she couldn’t find the key to the handcuffs, she decided to keep the taps running and had put all the curtains and blankets in the basin and the tub to ensure that everything was completely drenched. She figured that the couple would have no choice but to change location and her actions would make their lives hell. Well, she wasn’t wrong. The couple fell into her trap, quite literally. After they arrived at the cabin she’d set up, as soon as the man attempted to enter the cabin, he fell into the lake. Soon after the Purple Lady rescued him, they decided they had to get moving. But her husband was hypothermic; he begged her to let him rest in the van for some time, but the Purple Lady refused. She decided to track the stranger who was trying to mess up her plan and ‘put a bullet in her head,’ and she asked her husband to set up the tent on the lake just like they’d planned. When Barb noticed that the man was at the lake, she decided to sneak back into the house. A bullet had grazed her arm after the Purple Lady had tried to shoot her when she was on her way out of the cabin. She dressed her wound and got back on her rescue mission. She found the couple’s van parked outside, and she used the radio to connect with the emergency helpline, but her conversation was interrupted when the man in the camo jacket showed up.
What happened to the man?
Barb was alarmed, and she flung an axe at his foot. The man was wounded, and he begged her to spare him. She complained that his wife was not in her right mind and she was simply following her orders. He regretted his actions, especially after his wife abused him after he begged her to let him rest and slapped him when he’d announced that he had lost his gun at the lake where he’d almost drowned. Barb had his gun, and she could kill him if she wanted to, but she realized that the man was truly apologetic about his involvement with Purple Lady and was determined to right the wrong. He had abandoned his position at the lake to drive to a hospital because he knew he would freeze to death if he wasn’t treated immediately. Barb spared him and instructed him to drive to the police station before admitting himself to a hospital in the nearest town. He handed over all the bullets he’d left, in a way hinting that if need be, Barb must stop the Purple Lady anyhow. She hoped help would soon arrive, but unfortunately, the man didn’t make it to the town. He met his wife on the way, and she was ready with her rifle to kill him. He tried explaining how ridiculous their plan was, but she refused to listen. She was driven by madness, and there was no stopping her.
Meanwhile, Barb had set fire to her truck for help to arrive. She figured that the people she spoke to on the radio would have a tough time locating her, but the smoke would guide them to the lake. And she was right. The emergency help arrived, and although Barb’s story sounded like a lot for them to handle, they decided to drive to the cabin and find out what was going on. They kept Barb’s gun locked in the glove compartment for safety’s sake. Barb knew it was a bad idea, but that was the only way the men would trust her. Upon arriving at the cabin, the men approached the car parked outside, and immediately after they opened the car door, the Purple Lady started firing from inside the cabin. The men were not prepared for such a confrontation, and they died immediately. Barb managed to find the key to the glove compartment and got the gun before she narrowly escaped the shot fired by the woman. She fired all the bullets she had in her gun, and the Purple Lady was shot in her foot. Barb thought of getting hold of one of the rifles the men carried, and it was then that she noticed the man in the camo jacket seated inside the car. He was struck in the neck by a sharp object and was killed brutally by his wife after he objected to her irrational plan.
Did Leah survive?
The Purple Lady continuously fired in Barb’s direction so she couldn’t manage to get the rifle. She tried hiding at a spot outside the cabin, but the Purple Lady shot at the protruding roof that fell on Barb’s head, and she lost consciousness. When she woke up, she found herself in the same basement where Leah had been held hostage. For the first time, Barb got the chance to introduce herself properly to Leah. She couldn’t believe that the Purple Lady didn’t kill her, but it soon became evident that she needed Barb to do the heavy tasks that her husband was supposed to help her with. Barb told Leah about the story of her great-grandfather Iver, who’d survived the Great Blizzard of 1888. While hundreds died, Ivan survived only because he refused to stop. He walked and walked in the brutally unforgiving blizzard with his ox and a sack of grains until he saw the sun rise again and the storm was over. She wanted Leah to remember that if one kept going through the worst possible situation, there would come a time when the darkness would fade and the sun would rise. Had it not been for Iver’s determination, she wouldn’t have had a chance at life, and most importantly, she wouldn’t have met her soulmate, Karl. She was grateful to her great-grandfather, and his determination inspired her to not give up.
Leah was impressed with Barb’s presence of mind as she cleverly found a way to release herself from the handcuffs and helped Leah as well. Just as Barb managed to open the storm door, she saw the Purple Lady outside, and she had no choice but to walk back into the basement. The Purple Lady, Leah, and Barb soon made it to the tent set on the lake. Barb was asked to upload a box where the Purple Lady planned on storing Leah’s liver before the surgery was performed on her. Leah was made to lie down, and Barb was instructed to tape her to the bed. She made sure to keep the tapes loose enough for Leah to wriggle out. Leah held the screw that Barb had handed to her in the basement for keepsakes close to her. Although it was a tiny object, she was hopeful that it would come to some use. The Purple Lady shot Barb since she no longer had any use for her. But she didn’t realize that Barb was carrying the tin container that had Karl’s ashes close to her heart, so the container absorbed the bullet. Even though her husband was not physically by her side, he saved her when she needed him the most.
During Dead of Winter’s ending, Barb got back on her feet after she fell to the ground due to the impact of the bullet. She pounced on the Purple Lady and stabbed her with a scissor. But the woman didn’t give up; she overpowered Barb and grabbed hold of her rifle. Just as she was about to shoot, Barb tackled her and pushed her out of the tent. The two got into an intense scuffle. Meanwhile, the tent caught on fire after a lantern fell to the ground. Thanks to Barb and the screw she’d passed onto Leah, she managed to tear the tapes. She freed herself and ran out of the tent.
Did the Purple Lady die?
Just when the Purple Lady pulled the trigger, she and Barb realized there were no bullets left. She repeatedly attacked Barb with the rifle stock, and she was severely wounded. She dragged Barb to the little trap she’d made in the lake where the man in the camo jacket fell. The Purple Lady and Barb watched Leah escape from the tent. While Leah intended on helping the old woman who’d been there for her, the realization that it was too late hit her like a punch to the gut. The Purple Lady attempted to hit Barb again, but this time she dove right on time. The woman fell on the frozen lake, and Barb used the opportunity to tie the loose end of the handcuff she had on one of her wrists to the Purple Lady’s ankle. She dragged her into the lake and stayed underwater. The Purple Lady gasped for air, but she couldn’t swim to the surface. Dead of Winter’s ending confirms that the Purple Lady died in the lake. Perhaps if she would’ve accepted the inevitable, her last few days could’ve been filled with happiness. She chose to plot, scheme, kill, and dive into a state of insanity just for the sake of being alive. She didn’t comprehend that her actions would have such an immediate reaction, and her plan to trick fate failed completely.
What does the final scene suggest?
After Barb swam underwater, she released her husband’s ashes from the tin container. It almost looked like Karl embraced her as the ashes wrapped around her. Before diving in, Barb had raised a toast to Karl—they did the same when they visited the lake on their first date, and in a way this was their last time at the lake together. We don’t know if Barb considered ending her life after Karl’s death and whether she’d arrived at the lake with that purpose in mind, or if it was a decision she’d made for Leah. Barb likely believed she’d lived the best days of her life, and there was nothing really left for her. Every minute of every day she was reminded of him, and dying in the same place where she’d scattered Karl’s ashes was possibly what she considered the best way to go. She was forever grateful to her great-grandfather for his resilience, and it was evident that she carried the same vigor in her. Barb had mentioned that she and Karl had planned on naming their child Leah if she was a girl, but life had other plans, and Barb suffered a miscarriage. Leah was the daughter she never had, and Barb went above and beyond to help her survive.
Dead of Winter’s ending hints that now Leah will carry the story of Barb and Karl. She’d found the photograph that the couple had taken at the lake in 1982, and she is going to hold on to it forever. Just like Barb had promised, the sun rose again and hope was restored. The film is as much about courage as it is about showing humanity. Barb could’ve ignored it all, but she chose to help selflessly. As individuals grow more self-centered and reports of murders and assaults in broad daylight become increasingly common, stories of kindness and humanity serve as powerful reminders of our responsibility to help others and to never turn a blind eye when we witness wrongdoing.
