Snowbound

A whodunit in a snowy setting. It is not a great scenario, but the setting really is were all the flaws are present. The snow scenery is great. Five people, all naked, suddenly waken at the same time, and rush to a cabin where there is a roaring fire. On the mantle are stockings with their names on it, and in the stockings are their underwear. The were drugged, placed on the snow naked, yet here were no footprints around them. In the cold air, one did not see their breaths. They all knew where to run to the cabin. They all should have been dead of hypothermia. And later, Lisa wanders off to try and find help, having on stockings on her feet, and a light covering, and after wandering for 'miles', she winds up going in a circle. And even though she drags snow in on her socks to the fireplace in the cabin, that snow doesn't melt quickly, not did her breath show on the wandering. So give credit to the special effects people to try and make it look like what they did was real. They find a naked dead body upstairs, and when they come back down, there is a note tied to a rock telling them they have until 5 o'clock to discover who killed her, or suffer they all will suffer consequences. They had all attended the same erotic party thrown by Jerome, and were all drugged. In flashbacks, they show them at the party, which seems a very dull party. And one soon doesn't care about any of them.

So the movie doesn't introduce any NEW concepts. People have made several bad comparisons with it. The script doesn't really provoke any thought or feeling in the viewers. If it did, go watch An Inspector Calls and it will blow your brain right out of your skull, as it does what I assume this movie tried to, exponentially better. There were, as other reviews pointed out, a large amount of plot holes and logistical issues, many of which could have been solved by either clothing the characters or not having the movie be set in the snow. For some reason, lost of many of us, even those who liked the movie, they chose to do both. I feel like this writers room could have gotten along too well, meaning that they became more of an echo chamber about how good everyone's ideas were and spent time working them all in, rather than trying to edit each other and figure out where things need to be explained better or just made no sense and could have been changed or removed. The acting and writing both kind of lacked (seeing some of the same names in both categories, I assume this was kind of a "if no one wants to put us in movies, we should just write our own" sort of deal). Too many movies fall short in trying to make the omnipotent, demure, powerful guy... this was no exception. They also may have given him magic for some reason? That is a question because it's not really clear, but sure, why not? Steer into the skid. If you want to try and really enjoy this movie, I suggest you do the same. Shrug, laugh, and just go with it, asking no logical questions along the way.

This movie isn't really a thriller or mystery, but more of a Chekhovian allegory about friends and colleagues who lose their way and become "snowblind" to the darkness enveloping them -- a metaphor for today's social and political environment where we are all puppets, both the actors and viewers, who are being manipulated by hidden puppeteers.

Interesting story about the strangers who woke up in the cabin in the woods not remembering how they all got there. It appears to be someone's game. The reasoning is a mystery at first, but, as the story unfolds through the flashbacks from the masquerade party, the viewer gets a better idea on how the events are connected and how characters' actions resulted in the final state. Indeed, the ending is pretty unpredictable.

There is a good movie here - it may be buried under a lot of snow (no pun intended and no drug innuendo meant). The running time seems to be an object of discussion - but I don't think I watched a cut version of the movie.

There is nudity and there is blood and mayhem of sorts. Though nothing too much - I think the movie never intended to go full Saw or even Cube (the latter being a more apt comparison) ... you could compare it with other horror movie (franchises) too of course.

But there is not enough juice to keep it as interesting as many of the other efforts have. I've seen worse movies, especially when it comes to cinematography. But maybe that is not something you care about.