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Frozen (2005)

Director: Juliet McKoen

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From Time Out London

Like ‘Don’t Look Now’ – which Juliet McKoen’s feature debut recalls in its use both of a ghostly red-coated figure and of a wintry, watery milieu (here Fleetwood and Morecambe Bay) – this mixes genre tropes like mystery and suspense with a serious, almost arty study of the effects of grief, guilt and misplaced hope arising from a death in the family. Kath (Shirley Henderson) finds it hard to accept that the disappearance of her sister Annie two years earlier probably means she’s dead; she takes counselling from the local vicar (Roshan Seth) – who, it transpires, has his own private sadness – ‘borrows’ a CCTV tape from the police and visits Annie’s friends and lover, convinced that clues will clear things up and provide some kind of closure. Unfortunately, the evocatively shot locations and Guy Michelmore’s pleasingly moody music can’t compensate for a stodgy narrative and some clumsiness in dialogue and motivation. Despite a few fine moments, the film mostly feels a little muddled and overly derivative.

Author: GA 2006-01-23 14:50:18

Time Out London Issue 1849: January 25-February 1 2006