Chilling Movies About Being Stranded in the Snow for Your Watchlist

      Casey Chong offers a collection of films centered around characters trapped in snowstorms, enhancing the tension...

      Films featuring characters stranded in a snowstorm for various reasons—such as a vehicle breaking down, a plane crash in a frigid area, or seeking temporary refuge in a remote location—are often seen across different genres, including drama, thriller, and horror. Well-known movies like The Shining, The Thing, and The Grey have explored themes of fear, isolation, and survival, using atmospheric anxiety and palpable tension to emphasize the characters' life-threatening situations. Below is a compilation of some lesser-known stranded-in-the-snow films that merit your attention and may have slipped past you…

      Society of the Snow (2023)

      The harrowing true account of the 1972 Andes plane crash was initially adapted for the big screen in the 1976 film Survive!, followed by the well-known 1993 dramatization Alive. J. A. Bayona's Spanish-language version takes a different approach, opting for raw and somber realism as it depicts the survivors of the Uruguayan rugby team braving the harsh conditions while stranded in the Andes mountains.

      Capitalizing on his background in horror, seen in The Orphanage, Bayona brings gritty details of the freezing temperatures and the survivors' mounting desperation to life. He emphasizes authenticity by choosing predominantly South American actors and adopts a narrative style that strips away melodramatic elements, instead focusing deeply on the survivors' emotional and psychological struggles, leading to mostly visceral and compelling outcomes.

      Wind Chill (2007)

      The lesser-known Wind Chill, released around the time Emily Blunt gained fame from The Devil Wears Prada, tells the story of a university student from Pennsylvania who shares a ride with a male student (Ashton Holmes) to Delaware. The characters are referred to simply as “Girl” and “Guy,” and what starts as a road trip to learn about each other quickly transforms into a nightmare after their car crashes, leaving them stranded in a snowdrift.

      The remainder of the film follows Blunt and Holmes' characters in their effort to survive while stuck on a backroad, allowing director Gregory Jacobs to utilize the icy environment to challenge them psychologically and emotionally. He cleverly shifts the narrative from a typical survival drama to a chilling ghost story, showcasing Blunt’s captivating performance as a girl trapped and fighting for her life amidst strange occurrences.

      Arctic (2018)

      Director and co-writer Joe Penna strips down the conventional melodrama often found in survival stories, taking a minimalist approach in Arctic. The film follows Overgård (Mads Mikkelsen), a pilot marooned in the Arctic Circle after his plane crashes. Alone, he must rely on his survival instincts to endure the punishing cold of the polar environment.

      Mikkelsen’s largely solo performance brings a subdued quality to his portrayal of a survivor who is determined not to give up, even when his hopes of being rescued by a helicopter responding to his distress signal are dashed after it crashes. The addition of an injured passenger, played by María Thelma Smáradóttir, introduces a much-needed element of humanity to the film's otherwise stark depiction of survival. Notably, the film features very little dialogue, with only a few words exchanged during its 97-minute run time.

      Cold Meat (2023)

      French director Sébastien Drouin, known for a series of short films and the miniseries Fearless, does not shy away from portraying the harsh reality of being stranded in a blizzard in Cold Meat. The film begins with a driver (Allen Leech as David Petersen) who stops at a roadside diner and rescues a waitress (Nina Bergman’s Ana) from her abusive ex-husband (Yan Tual’s Vincent).

      Initially, it appears that the narrative takes a subversive twist when Vincent seeks revenge against David Petersen, leading to the story of the two survivors (David and Ana) trapped in a car with no external assistance. Drouin masterfully heightens the tension and suspense while maintaining a focus on the characters, aided by engaging performances from Leech and Bergman. The film runs a tight 90 minutes, cutting excess in favor of a streamlined survival thriller with significant stakes.

      Wrong Turn 4: Bloody Beginnings (2011)

      While the first three entries in the Wrong Turn franchise take place in wooded areas, returning director Declan O’Brien (2009’s Wrong Turn 3: Left for Dead) shifts the setting to a snow-laden environment, adding freshness while retaining the gritty essence of the series. The fourth installment features a gruesome prologue set in the 1970s detailing the cannibalistic mutants' escape from the Glenville Sanatorium, with O’Brien not wasting any time in the opening act.

      Fans of the Wrong Turn series can anticipate an explicit display of gore and violence, which intensifies as the film unfolds. The story transitions to