The Snow Men

I'm not just saying this because I am me and it's so me to say this, but I'm actually pretty shocked that the shot in Andrew Haigh's A Long Winter where Fred Hechinger and Kit Connor are getting dressed for bed and stand beside each other shirtless with their extremely different physiques on display is not included in the just released trailer for the movie -- the moment does serve a meaningful purpose in the movie, even if it's also just a little gratuitous in the sense that Andrew Haigh knows who his audience is, and when I saw the movie at NYFF I was likie, "Ooh trailer shot." But no they slapped me right across the face and said "Boo Whore" instead, and I am fine with that -- it's not that kind of movie. (Although any Ebon Moss-Bachrach fans might want to get in line and stay in line, just saying.) 

Anyway I didn't get to review this out of NYFF because it'd already been reviewed at Pajiba out of TIFF, but if I had reviewed it I would have been Team This Movie -- it's very quiet and gentle, it's like snow falling, but if you can get on its wavelength it's a terrific addition to the canon of Sad Mom Cinema. (Indeed I have a feeling it might wreck my partner, who vibes hard with such.) Fred Hechinger is wonderful in it, giving a real surprise of a performance -- not that I am surprised he's good, Fred is always good. But you don't at all expect his character to be such a beacon of light given his circumstances and yet Fred plays everything with a little more wonder and kindness than you expect . And it really took me off-guard, in a good way. And it's not going to happen (this movie is shamefully going to slip through the cracks of the next few months, I can already tell) but the best performance in it belongs to Bachrach, and he really deserves some awards-season appreciation. A Best Supporting Actor nomination at the Oscars would be richly deserved but I won't be holding my breath. Anyway the movie hits NYC on December 4th and then exapands outward on January 22nd and as with anything made by Andrew Haigh you should see it.