Adam Green
Frozen

THE REVIEW

Mountains of Utah, late Sunday afternoon.
Three friends (Joe and Dan, childhood friends, and the latter's girlfriend, Parker) decide to take one last run on the ski slopes: since it's already closing time, it's almost dark and on top of that a storm is approaching, they have to convince (by bribing) the chairlift attendant to let them go.

He agrees, advising the three to return quickly, and then he is relieved by a colleague, whom he instructs to wait for the three to reach the top before closing the facility. Regrettably a few minutes later, three kids arrive on the slope, the guy thinks they are our heroes and stops the operation.

And where are our heroes instead? On the chairlift, of course, far away from the base and suspended over 10 meters from the ground. Since chairlifts are often subject to temporary "stops," initially, they find it amusing. A few minutes pass, the chairlift does not restart and indeed, all the lights on the slope go out: there's nothing funny now. Shouting does little. As luck would have it, it's a Sunday evening, and as luck would have it, the facility will not reopen until the following Friday.

The three ponder what to do: it's too high to jump down without getting (seriously) hurt. The facility towers (equipped with ladders) are equally distant. Panic sets in.
A few hours pass, the storm rages, a snowcat arrives. The kids scream desperately, trying to attract the attention of the guy who, as luck would have it, is called via radio and asked to turn back just a few meters before reaching them.

They realize they're screwed.
It’s unthinkable to stay on a chairlift for 5 days. Dan decides then that the only possible way is to jump down: he does it. The next day Joe, seeing Dan's failure, decides that the only possible way is to climb the cable, reach a tower, and descend via the stairs. He does it. None of them noticed that, among the assorted calamities surrounding them, there is an angry and very patient pack of wolves. Parker, seeing Dan's and Joe's failures, decides that the only way is to wait for a stroke of luck equal to or greater than the bad luck encountered so far. She does it.

The film is a thriller with a tendency towards horror, playing on a real and concrete fear. Needless to say, they asked for it, so everything that happens to them can also be seen with a cynical eye. The dialogues are awful. The film barely passes because it keeps you on the edge of your seat, and the element of suspense never fades. However, a small effort is needed to turn a blind eye (often two) to many elements:

• it’s unthinkable that three kids - all three of them - go skiing and don't even have a mobile phone. The fact that the director completely ignores this detail (no one complains about not having brought it) does not mean that the viewer can justify this oversight.
• Trying to grab the attention of a noisy snowcat - and during a storm - with mere shouts is evidently insufficient: the three start throwing objects (ski poles, helmets) only when it begins to reverse. You are three idiots.
• If you decide to jump from over 10 meters you are brave, but you're also a fool. If you decide to do it landing on your legs, you are doubly foolish. Naturally, you break both of them.
• If you're at risk of freezing, you try to cover yourself as much as possible, especially your face. If you lose a glove, like Parker, you don't leave your hand exposed; you put it in the other glove or inside the ski jacket.
• maximum idiocy, if you spend the night on a chairlift and lost a glove, the last stupid thing you might think of doing is to fall asleep with your hand on the bar. Idiot.
• again to avoid freezing, the least you can do is move, not sit still like a sack of potatoes. Especially since you're on quite a large seat, not on a rock overhanging Nanga Parbat.
• it's unbelievable that you start to joke and reminisce about past loves when ten meters below your (ex) boyfriend and (ex) best friend have been torn to shreds by a pack of ravenous wolves. You can show a minimum of sensitivity and cry, or at the very least keep silent.
• it's unrealistic for a girl to have a hysterical breakdown because the chairlift stops for a moment (before the odyssey) while two days later, exhausted, remains cool and collected as she crawls belly-down with a broken leg next to the pieces of her (ex) boyfriend and (ex) friend while the aforementioned ravenous pack of wolves watches her menacingly.

And others. The only person who did not do anything truly useful to save herself (but also nothing really silly to get herself killed) ultimately succeeds. It may not be totally fair, but it is what it is and, like everything else, we have to accept it.
Good idea, tension always alive, could have been done better.