Dead of Winter

Barb finally reaches the frozen Lake Hilda, intent on scattering Karl’s ashes, but the desperate cries of a young woman—Leah—shatter her plans. A gun‑wielding man and his companion, the “Purple Lady,” have kidnapped Leah, intending to harvest her liver for a dubious, experimental surgery that the terminally‑ill Purple Lady believes will cure her. Recognising the cruelty of the plot, Barb abandons her own grief‑laden task and decides to rescue the girl, a choice Karl would have made for her.

Using the only resources at hand, Barb lights a fire in her van to draw attention, rigs the cabin with water‑soaked blankets and a makeshift trap, and repeatedly outwits the kidnappers. She secures a radio call for help, wrestles the man’s gun, and even enlists the injured man—who later regrets his involvement—to drive to the police. The man’s attempt to flee ends tragically when his own wife, the Purple Lady, shoots him in the neck, refusing to abandon her fanatical scheme.

When the emergency crew finally arrives, the Purple Lady opens fire from inside the cabin. The men in the police car are gunned down; Barb retrieves the gun, is grazed, and collapses, only to awaken back in the basement where Leah has been held. Here she comforts Leah with a story of her great‑grandfather Iver, a survivor of the 1888 blizzard, urging her to keep moving forward no matter how dark the night.

The Purple Lady forces Barb to help her set up a makeshift operating table inside a tent on the ice, planning to remove Leah’s liver. Barb, clutching the tin that holds Karl’s ashes, is shot, but the bullet is stopped by the ashes, sparing her life. In the ensuing chaos she uses a small screw she had given Leah to loosen the restraining tapes, frees herself, and the tent erupts in flames when a lantern falls.

The final confrontation plays out on the frozen lake. Barb manages to bind the Purple Lady’s ankle to the handcuff on her own wrist and drags the murderous woman into the icy water. The Purple Lady struggles for air, but cannot swim and drowns, ending her reign of terror.

Exhausted and bruised, Barb surfaces and lets the ashes of Karl spill into the water. The ash swirls around her, a visual echo of his presence, and she tosses a toast to the memory of their first date on this very lake. Leah, now free, discovers a photograph of Barb and Karl taken on that night in 1982 and vows to keep their story alive. The film closes on the thawing lake and the rising sun, a quiet affirmation that courage and compassion can endure even the bleakest winter.

Last Updated: December 10, 2025 at 15:52