Cold

An icy chill runs through Erlingur Thoroddsen’s eerie murder mystery Cold. The film centres around Ódinn (Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson) and his 13-year-old daughter Rún (Ólöf Halla Jóhannesdóttir, Jóhannesson’s real-life daughter), who are reeling from her mother’s suicide. Rún is haunted by terrifying nightmares and is reluctant to talk to her father about her mother’s death. Meanwhile, Ódinn struggles to connect with his daughter. However, when he’s tasked with investigating the historic murders of two boys at a now abandoned juvenile centre, he uncovers a dark truth, which may be closely connected to the present.

Jumping between the past and present, the filmmaker skilfully merges two plotlines into a singular gripping narrative. While the first follows the father and daughter’s attempt to come to terms with what happened, the second depicts the sinister events that occurred at the juvenile centre at the hands of its cruel owners through the perspective of a young employee named Aldís (Elín Hall). Though the plotlines appear wildly different at first, they’re soon connected by themes of trauma and mental illness, which takes both elements into unexpectedly dark directions.

From rumours of a stillborn baby haunting the centre and a creepy children’s song about a malicious shadow to a strange tapping at Aldís’s window at night and malevolent figures lurking in the shadows, there’s a sinister edge surrounding this decade-spanning mystery that puts a supernatural horror spin on proceedings. While this movie never enters full horror territory, there are nevertheless a handful of unsettling ghostly moments that will send a chill running down viewers’ spines.

Although the spooky happenings being a metaphor for mental illness doesn’t come as a surprise, with the script all but signposting these themes from the outset, there are still plenty of unexpected twists to be found here as answers come to light. It’s at this point, however, when the feature begins to stumble as the final act hurries towards its resolution: the last portion is a little too overcooked. A lot of huge plot points happen in quick succession without much time for them to be properly digested, especially when it comes to the present-day section.

Despite a messy conclusion, Thoroddsen has created an enthralling edge-of-your-seat chiller with this Icelandic mystery.

Andrew Murray

Cold does not have a UK release date yet.

Read more reviews from our Glasgow Film Festival 2024 coverage here.

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