They say you can’t judge a book by its cover or a movie by its poster. That’s not always the case. As you swipe through all the selections on a streaming service like Tubi, you can tell by the poster if a movie is belly-churning found footage, a half-naked cheerleader flick, or monsters with chips on their shoulders and an empty belly. You may have flipped past Everwinter Night with the idea that you already know what happens and how it will play out. You’ve seen movies like it before, right?
Not this time, Sunshine.
Two best friends, Maddy (McKenna Parsons) and V (Victoria Mirrer), are planning a vacation together. Things shift when some of their cohorts from college unexpectedly appear to change those plans. Before they know it, the women are invited to spend the weekend at a rustic cabin with a group of attractive and mysterious dudes. These guys are so rich, they serve sushi wrapped up in hundred-dollar bills. They call them “bank rolls.” Come on. That’s funny.
What the guys want from their houseful of women forms the film’s central mystery. Is it a sex type thing or something else? Events get progressively weirder until a nutballs-crazy third act smacks the viewer in the back of the skull. Gloriously, it all works. Writers Chris Goodwin and Adam Newman have crafted a story, not a weakly-connected series of events. No one dies every twelve minutes to keep the movie trucking along. Interesting characters and believable dialogue propel Everwinter Night to a level of mad creativity not often found in a genre movie.
As the enigmatic leader of the pack, Erik, Chris Goodwin gives a cool, subdued performance that barely alludes to his underlying intentions. Mirrer is great as V, the only woman who believes something nefarious is happening at the cabin. From cringe to clever, all the characters feel real. Sweet and charming moments are juxtaposed with scenes of almost unbearable tension.
Everwinter Night takes the standard set-up of a trapped-in-the-woods movie and folds it from opposite corners until it becomes a beautiful tesseract. There are no silly teenagers here, no shaky-cam depicting the view of a skulking maniac. Classy and intelligent, Everwinter Night is a horror movie for grown-ups.
There are a lot of hack-and-slash movies floating around out there on streamers. If you’re in the mood for something more substantial with a thoughtful plot and one heck of a conclusion, slow your scroll and click on Everwinter Night. Character-driven and ultimately shocking, Everwinter Night is a horror gem that deserves more viewers.
Directed by Adam Newman, Everwinter Night is available on Tubi.
