Plot so thin, it passes unnoticed.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Mostly, the movie is committed to the value of a good time.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

This film was highly praised in (Belgian) newspapers for its ice cold depiction of a marriage being swallowed up by an avalanche, so to say. My eagerness to watch it was set in motion!. When watching it, I must say I can't remember getting so agitated so very quickly from watching a film. What started out with such potential quite rapidly unravelled into a combination of irritatingly one-dimensional charachters, an almost cartoonish portrayal of events and numerous pointless scenes. Scandinavian film making unworthy, truly!

Quite frankly, this was the worst film I have ever seen. It is so bad that I am writing my first review to help people avoid the mistake I made. Everyone in my environment who watch the movie were very disappointed too, and some had to re-sell it immediately. Seriously, I think people that are giving high marks to this film are trolling. The movie basically pictures a family in a sky resort, and when they are in the cafeteria, an avalanche occurs. The man of the family got scared and ran away. The rest of the movie is just about the wife complaining on him for running away instead of staying with his family. That's it. Nothing else. You can try to see more and describe it with deep and eloquent words, but the film is quite bad. You are warned! The photography is beautiful, though.

I had expected to really like this film but overall I didn't enjoy it. There were some moments I enjoyed and I liked the couple who visit the main characters. But the whole thing is slightly strange and does not quite add up to me. For example the hotel staff member who observes the family yet does little else. The family themselves - they seem to have no fun and the kids never once object to this slightly tiring ski holiday with terrifying avalanche etc. I felt very sorry for the little boy in the family ! I guess that is the point - the father is patriarchal at the beginning of the film. But it sort of left me cold and definitely puts you off a ski holiday in such an alpine resort with cold large hotels and horrible roads etc etc .... I didn't really get this film at all. I would not recommend it.

I had heard the basic plot of this film described and was curious how it would work. I assumed that the main event of the avalanche would be a bigger moment and with lasting physical consequences (for some reason I pictured the family alone in a cabin for the tensions to build). Instead the traumatic event of the film is less impacting in its physical moment, almost to the point where I wondered what the film would do for the remainder of its two hour running time. What it does is slow but satisfying in the way it unfolds. From this moment we watch the characters fracture and struggle; as individuals and as a family. It is not wholly successful but in the main part it plays out well.The slow pace and long takes are part of the film working, as they set a tone of tension which mostly exists in a vacuum of silence. This occurs not only in the context of the landscape, but also in the smaller shots – for instance the amount of time we spend behind the characters as they stand with their backs to us. I liked the slightly invasive feel this gave the film, as it did feel like we were watching scenes play out, rather than them being played out for the viewer. This relies a lot on the cast to deliver within this space, and mostly they do. Some of the characters feel added for the sake of the narrative, but in the case of the lead two they are strong in their individual and joint performances. The tension between them, and their own struggles as people, are presented in a convincing and engaging way. It doesn't matter that you do not like the characters per se, but they are interesting – even if I ended the film not liking who Tomas is, I enjoyed understanding him better.The pace is at times a bit too slow and the running time a bit long, but mostly the film controls it very well. It is impressive how well the tone and pace is established in the shoot, and the design and construction of the film comes together. Mostly though it is a film made in the small moments, the interactions, and the internal fracturing/testing of characters. The conclusions are not cheerful perhaps but it is cleverly done and I enjoyed how well it delivered the characters.