Like the Coen Brothers’ 1996 neo-noir Fargo, director Brian Kirk’s Dead of Winter transports us to the icy landscapes of America’s northern Midwest for a brisk and bloody, female-centred thriller.

British star Emma Thompson is Barb – in her late sixties, recently widowed and still living in the home she and her husband shared. We meet her as she prepares for an ice-fishing trip to the frozen lake they visited on their first date. She still carries a photo taken at the time and her husband’s old fishing tackle box.

There’s a weather system barrelling in, and things can turn dangerous in these parts pretty quickly. But Barb, who has lived here all her life, has seen it all and drives into the coming storm regardless.

Momentarily blindsided by a blizzard, she stops for directions at an isolated and very run-down cabin. The occupant (played by Marc Menchaca) seems a cagey type, but that’s not unusual in these parts. The blood splash in the snow? “Deer,” he growls. Barb moves on.

Later, however, while fishing at the lake, she hears a shot. Barb sees the...