Chill Out: 23 Winter Thrillers to Binge.

Winter is coming and when most people are looking for a list of Christmas romantic comedies, I decided to make a scary, snowy selection! 

Winter thrillers are a special type of film in which weather conditions play a significant role. In a snowy confinement, the heroes try not only to survive but also begin to delve into their subconscious.

I have collected 23 different trapped in snow movies. They are well-known and underrated but exciting and intense thrillers that will not let you get bored. I suggest curtaining the windows, grabbing a bottle of wine, and enjoying a movie where winter is the main character. Choose any tape from the list—there is blood, pain, and a torn psyche everywhere against the backdrop of gorgeous snowy landscapes.

23 winter thriller movies.

Frozen, 2010.

It is an extremely minimalistic winter thriller whose entire plot can be easily summarized in two short sentences. Three young people vacationing at a ski resort get stuck on a ski lift high above the ground for the whole night. Moreover, there is no help to be expected during the day either – the resort has closed for a week in anticipation of an approaching snow cyclone.

Overall, the film was quite interesting—atmospheric, tense, like burning with cold. I loved thrillers and horrors in the past, and I watched this film five times.

I have a review of a similar film Fall 2022.

Whiteout, 2009.

Law enforcement officer Carrie has only three days to catch the first serial killer in the history of Antarctica with the help of an airplane pilot. After that, the polar night will blanket the entire continent.

The frame has only 4-5 characters, but the tension is colossal. A psychological thriller by all the rules. Who is guilty of what, you will be given bit by bit. The more details, the less clear it is what is behind the murder. But the whole essence will be revealed only at the very end and in the most unexpected way. Whiteout is a dynamic film that will show you Antarctica.

The Grey, 2011.

After a plane crash in Alaska, several survivors have to survive in the mountains without food, shelter and extreme cold. The already harsh circumstances are complicated because a pack of wolves is hunting the group of people. Who will win this fight?

A compelling dramatic thriller that will make you nervous about the fate of the heroes, played by Liam Neeson and Frank Grillo. This story is brutal and real, showcasing the struggle to survive in the wild. The tale sticks with you and keeps you glued to the screen until the last moment. I will also add that the film has stunning landscapes and frightening wolves.

Snowpiecer, 2013.

In the future, the Earth went under a thick layer of ice after a catastrophe. The only stronghold of life was a huge train that set off on an endless journey around the planet. However, the social inequality characteristic of society remained even after the disaster. All survivors are divided into classes – high society lives in the first cars, and commoners live in the tail. The main character – a passenger from the last cars, wants to destroy this unfairly created system and find the train’s creator.

A strong socially acute thriller that you will watch in one breath with a good cast and direction by Bong Joon-ho, known for the acclaimed film Parasite. Of course, Snowpiercer is a film about our life, with its gray morality and the impossibility of solving the equation of absolute truth with so many variables, with vicious politics and flexible ideology, with the violent power of the weak and the decadent weaknesses of the strong.

The Revenant, 2015.

Hunter Hugh Glass is badly hurt in the wild, untamed parts of the American West. His companion, John Fitzgerald, turns traitor and leaves him to die. With just his willpower left, Glass is determined to fight against the unforgiving wilderness.

It is a fairly well-known film, and I enjoyed watching it again. This brutal film, full of cruel and sometimes creepy realistic scenes, is certainly worthy of an Oscar.

Wind River, 2017.

The action takes place on an Indian reservation, where the body of a young girl was found in the middle of winter. A rookie FBI agent, Jane Banner, takes on the case, and local ranger Cory Lambert helps her. But finding the evil that has settled in these stunningly beautiful but dangerous places is difficult. 

This is the perfect option if you like dramatic thrillers with a mystical flair. The film will also please you with stunning landscapes, high-quality acting, and a truly exciting plot. 

Cut Off, 2018.

During another autopsy, forensic expert Paul finds a note addressed to him personally in the body of a corpse. He cannot contact the police; otherwise, his daughter will suffer. But who did this and why? Following the clues left by the maniac, the hero gets thrown into a life-or-death competition.

It is a very confusing German thriller that impressionable people should not watch. However, give it a shot if you can handle some uncomfortable moments. The depressive atmosphere only decorates this thriller, and the music creates the right mood. Plus, all this is complemented by superb views of wildlife. As a result, you will empathize with the heroes and follow the development of events.

The Lodge, 2019.

Grace recently married Richard, and the couple’s happy life is overshadowed only by the fact that the children from their first marriage do not want to accept their father’s new wife. To improve the relationship between the children and Grace, Richard invites them to go together for the weekend to a house in the forest while he leaves on business. However, then events take a very unexpected turn.

If you look a little closer, The Lodge turns out to be not just another horror story about child cruelty but also a drama about childhood trauma, the consequences of which seem impossible to overcome. As a result, it is a psychological thriller that will appeal to all connoisseurs of dark storytelling and squeezing horror.

Scare Me, 2020.

Deciding to start a new chapter in his life, Fred rents a house in the countryside for the weekend and tries to write a book. During his morning jog, he meets a girl named Fanny, who lives in the neighboring house, and she turns out to be a successful writer who recently published a sensational horror novel. That same evening, after a sudden power outage, Fanny visits Fred and suggests while spending time together, telling each other scary stories.

There are not many films in the world that have only two characters. The action occurs within four walls, and tearing yourself away from the screen while watching is impossible. And this film is one of them!

The Lie, 2020.

15-year-old Kayla’s parents are divorced, and each lives their own life, but the girl can’t come to terms with it. One day, on the way to a dance class, Kayla and her father offer to give her best friend Britney a ride. Then a strange incident occurs – Kayla claims that she pushed Britney off a bridge into a cold river, and she disappeared. Now, the frightened parents will do everything possible to hide this fact and protect their daughter at any cost. At the same time, Kayla behaves very strangely every day. 

The Lie is a tense bundle of nerves inside the characters, and the closer to the end, the more it heats up and pulsates, ready to explode at any moment. You will watch how parents have to clean up the mess and bear a heavy and unbearable burden for their frostbitten children. As a result, it is a psychological thriller with a gray atmosphere and an unexpected ending.

I’m Thinking of Ending Things, 2020.

Lucy is thinking about breaking up with her boyfriend Jake but instead goes with him to visit his parents on a remote farm. But Lucy notices something strange is happening in Jack’s parents’ house.

At a family dinner, Jake’s parents change their age and appearance several times, and Lucy changes her occupation. An experienced viewer who regularly watches Kaufman’s works soon begins to understand that everything happening is not entirely real and, most likely, is happening in someone’s head. It remains only to figure out whose head it is.

Arctic, 2019.

A pilot of a crashed plane tries to survive in the Arctic desert, where the temperature can drop to an extreme -70. His entire measured life consists of not freezing to death and finding at least something edible. Soon, he will be joined by an equally hungry polar bear.

Arctic is an extremely minimalist film. The film’s creators focus exclusively on the horror of the situation where the hero finds himself without telling anything about his past. The movie was filmed in the Arctic with a meager budget. They opted to film a real bear instead of creating one with CGI, which was way cheaper.  At the 71st Cannes Film Festival, Arctic premiered to a standing ovation from the audience.

Hold the Dark, 2018.

A godforsaken settlement in Alaska. Several children have disappeared here in recent years. The locals blame a raging pack of wolves. Young mother, Medora Sloan, whose son is the latest to disappear, turns to wolf expert and writer Russell Koru for help without much hope of an answer. She has no hope of finding her son alive but is thirsty for revenge and wants someone to stop the wolves. Unexpectedly, Koru finally arrives, but instead of hunting wolves, he gets a full-scale bad trip across the snowy expanses of Alaska straight into an icy hell.

Hold the Dark is a slow-paced psychological thriller requiring multiple viewings to fully understand. The director has filled the film with many allegories and metaphors that intersect and reference each other, making every scene and dialogue important. Delving into some of the intricacies of life in Alaska will also shed light on the film’s events.

So this is a great film for those who like slow-paced puzzle thrillers.

Misery, 1990.

Miser is a tremendous psychological winter thriller based on Stephen King. Due to heavy snowfall, a famous writer gets into an accident. His savior is a simple housewife who is also an ardent fan of his work. She, who has already fallen madly in love with the writer himself, nurses the poor guy strictly according to her own rules: he must rewrite his latest novel, sit still and not leave her house.

For me, this is one of the brilliant thrillers. An interesting development of events sometimes builds up the atmosphere to the limit, then makes the viewer relax a little, giving him false hope. It is a very interesting way of scaring.

The actors play superbly, especially Kathy Bates. She conveys the role of a crazy fan who made an idol out of her favorite writer with amazing accuracy and authenticity. 

The Shining, 1980.

Jack Torrance arrives with his wife and son at an elegant remote hotel to work as a caretaker during the off-season. Torrance has never been there before. Or is that not quite true? The answer lies in the darkness woven from a criminal nightmare.

The Shining is an excellent film by a great director. It is not a film adaptation but a film ‘based on.’ There are tons of symbols in the film that can be interpreted in multiple ways. That’s why critics have been having a field day discussing Kubrick’s work for the past 27 years.

Smilla’s Sense of Snow, 1997.

Smilla, the daughter of an Eskimo mother and a white father, lives in Copenhagen, yearns for Greenland, and works occasionally – at 37, she is the best expert on ice and snow. Her too-sharp mind, good education, and disgust for people prevent her from having relationships, and her only friend is a boy named Isaiah, the son of a neighbor, a drinking Eskimo, whose husband died on an expedition. When Isaiah dies after falling from a roof, Smilla decides to investigate his death herself because the police version of an accident does not suit her. Several deaths that follow the boy’s death will only be the beginning of Smilla’s journey north.

The film is based on the bestseller of the same name by Peter Høeg. As is customary in Scandinavian detectives, it has a solid social background, and the main parasites are representatives of big capital. And the main victims are Eskimos from Greenland, who have a hard time adapting to the cities. You will definitely love the Arctic flavor – the endless landscapes of Greenland and the idea of the Arctic as a dangerous and mysterious unknown land.

Crisis, 2021.

The plot centers on three stories that reflect the negative trends associated with the growing influence of opiates. Crisis is a dramatic thriller about the international opioid crisis.

It is a lively movie that is flawlessly played out. The cinematography and music give this tense action drama the right mood and rhythm. Despite the twisted plot with many characters and narrative lines, the film can be watched in one breath. The understandable and topical theme ‘inspired by real events’ becomes a strong artistic statement.

The Hateful Eight, 2015.

The film takes place a couple of years after the Civil War. By the will of fate, several strangers find themselves trapped in a remote cabin in the bear country of Wyoming by a snowstorm. Each person is more interesting than the other – a pair of bounty hunters, the captive of one of them, a retired Confederate general, a man who claims to be the new sheriff of the town of Red Rock, the executioner of Red Rock, a cowboy riding home, and a Mexican replacing the store owners who have gone away on business—an explosive mixture.

It is one of Quentin Tarantino’s excellent works and a well-deserved Oscar for Ennio Morricone. The film is told and shown very talentedly and beautifully, the music remains on playlists, and the abundance of blood makes even the most staunch fans of Tarantino smile.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, 2011.

Forty years ago, a girl from a robust and influential family disappeared under mysterious circumstances. Her uncle is convinced that a murder has been committed, and he entrusts the investigation to disgraced journalist and young hacker Lisbeth Salander. The film is based on the Swedish bestseller by writer Stieg Larsson, which has sold more than 15 million copies worldwide.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is one of my (nei word) – dark, brutal, frank and sexy. Over two and a half hours flies by almost unnoticed, so the story is immersive.

The actors play great. If you like to follow Daniel Craig’s work, read James Bond’s personality.

The Day After Tomorrow, 2004.

Global warming is in full swing on Earth. Glaciers are melting, but the temperature of the world’s oceans is not rising; it is sharply decreasing. Weather cataclysms follow one after another: giant hail falls in Tokyo, snow falls in Delhi, and numerous tornadoes occur in Los Angeles. And all this is only the beginning—the beginning of the end. Paleoclimatologist Jack Hall is trying to warn the US government about the impending catastrophe and the imminent onset of the ice age, but, of course, no one takes his words seriously.

The film is impressive. The Day After Tomorrow is not a scientific work, and I consider this a plus. This film is art, and you need to turn on your imagination. Another plus of the picture is that the director toned down the degree of pathos and patriotism that was so annoying on Independence Day.

Everest, 2015.

There is only one place in the world where you can find immortality – the peak of the great and impregnable Mount Everest. Here, beyond human capabilities, the strongest men challenge the elements. Everyone has reasons to climb to the top, but not everyone will conquer it.

The plot is based on real events on Everest in 1996 when bad weather conditions overtook two commercial groups that provided climbers with Everest ascent during their ascent to the summit. The film is full of courage, bravery, and most importantly – achieving the goal. Everyone must watch it, this is one of the best (neither word) about mountains.

The Head 2020-2022.

It is an Arctic TV show in the spirit of Agatha Christie. So, an international team starts winter duty – Norwegians, an English, a Spaniard, and a Japanese. As we soon find out, each one is not quite who they say they are. Six months at the world’s edge is a great way to hide from problems and the law. But something goes wrong: someone cuts the communication wires, smashes the signalman’s head, and then saws it off with a hacksaw. The rescue team that arrives many days later finds two survivors at the station, each of whom believes the other to be the culprit of the bloodbath. From their testimonies, this six-part story is composed about the bestial nature of man, betrayal, the indifference of nature and the power of logic.

The true motives remain hidden until the end of the series, but everything falls into place in the last five minutes. Head is a beautiful winter journey for those who love cold thrillers. It is definitely worth the time spent.

Fortitude, 2015-2018.

Fortitude is the name of a sparsely populated town hidden among Scandinavia’s mountain ranges, glaciers, and forests. In the city, people live ether, mind their business, and know no sorrow. But one day, misfortune befalls the inhabitants—murder.

One of the most notable and intriguing series of the second half of the 2010s, the first season of which has already acquired cult status. A unique, wildly bloodthirsty, and naturalistic arctic thriller can evoke many associations, from the ubiquitous Twin Peaks to Lost. In Fortitude, detective, science fiction, mystical thriller, and much more are intertwined in bizarre ways.

Final words.

Aren’t you cold yet? What films would you add to the list?

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