Below Zero

Jack reveals his goal to write a movie about a man locked in a freezer, so he travels to a remote area to test the idea firsthand. He plans to endure confinement in a real freezer to understand what the character would feel. The journey sets the literal and thematic chill that frames the story.

Penny, a quirky woman with a Fargo-like accent, picks Jack up and offers help. She explains her past—her son won't speak and his father left years ago because he couldn't accept him being 'different'—hinting at her protective, unpredictable nature. She notes that Jack's agent provided all directions, underscoring the sense of surveillance and control.

They arrive at an old slaughterhouse where Jack is locked inside the freezer. Penny seals him in and tells him he must stay for five days. Jack complains that it isn’t cold yet, but the confinement begins to heighten the film's tension and test his resolve.

As Jack works on his script, the movie he is writing unfurls on screen. The on-screen world appears green and dreary, while the real-world freezer world reads blue, underscoring the two-layer structure of the story.

In the metafictional thread, Frank drives a tow truck and his associate Marty works at the garage, with credits hinting that Marty is also Jack's agent. This parallel life adds a separate arc, echoing themes of control and the blurred line between writer and reality.

Frank endures an accident inspired by cows from Jack's and Penny's past, forcing him to find a phone for help. There is little civilization around, heightening the sense of isolation and danger. The search becomes a key obstacle in his path.

Frank locates an isolated dump of a butcher shop and encounters Gunnar, a demented butcher violently attacking his meat. Gunnar's creepy son watches in silence, adding an unsettling undercurrent to the encounter.

Frank manages to find a phone and calls Marty. If Marty rings back, Gunnar angrily says Frank isn't there, implying Frank is hiding and may be uncovering hidden dangers. The deception deepens the thriller's tension.

Back in Jack's script, edits trigger a rewind-like effect, and the film introduces new techniques for rewrites. The meta-device mirrors Jack's struggle to shape the story under pressure. The boundary between fiction and reality becomes increasingly blurred.

Within the film world, Frank discovers Paige being held prisoner, intensifying the peril. Marty arrives later in the scene but Gunnar's response remains hostile and dangerous, escalating the confrontation.

Marty shows up in Gunnar's domain, but the encounter is far from friendly. Gunnar's brutality and the power dynamics complicate the rescue and heighten the sense of threat. The scene deepens the antagonist's menace.

A flashback reveals more about the actor who plays Gunnar, showing he is a different person in another life yet still terrifying. The revelation adds depth to the antagonist and explains the unsettling energy around the character. The sequence broadens the film's backstory and foreshadows danger.

Back in the real world, the thermostat lowers and the cold intensifies. Jack is under mounting pressure to produce the script and finish the scene, pushing him toward a breaking point. The chilling environment mirrors the escalating stakes.