Movie Review - Winter's Bone

"You was warned, and you didn't listen...why didn't you listen?"

Chances are, if you're actually reading this, you have absolutely no idea what "Winter's Bone" is. To give you some background, it's a country thriller based on Daniel Woodrell's novel. It's also the winner of Best Dramatic Feature at Cannes, arguably the largest film festival in the world. But here's what matters to you: it's one of the best films of the year.

Winter's Bone is about a 16-year-old girl named Ree living in the cold Ozark Mountains who single-handedly raises her two little siblings. Why? Well for starters, her mom is "sick", and I say that with quotations because that's what she's referred to, although there is no specification of her problem. In her few scenes, she is practically a zombie, never talking and barely moving, staring into nothing. But Ree's incapable mother is the least of her problems. Her dad, a crystal meth maker and dealer, has gone on the run and apparently put up the family's property for bond. If he doesn't show for court, Ree and her siblings will lose everything. So the young girl, played in a star-making, Oscar worthy performance by newcomer Jennifer Lawrence, confronts the criminal underworld of the country, mostly made up of members of her extended family.

What follows is a quiet, maddeningly dark thriller that will tickle your spine long after you leave the theater. Winter's Bone is cold, creepy, tragic, and exciting. The pacing can be slow at times, but never without a reinforcement of the matters at stake. It is a riveting tale of danger and despair. Ree tells her brother, "There are just some things that you're gonna have to get over being scared of." A perfectly fitting quote; Winter's Bone is about struggle in the face of darkness. It may take a while to accelerate, but it will hit you like a freight train.

9.2 /10