Review of film... The Snowman
Boldon Cineworld
October 18th 2017
The first thing to mention about this film is that whilst it may share the same title as the beautiful, heartwarming yet heartbreakingly sad in moments animated film by Raymond Briggs, that's pretty much where the similarity ends.
Set in a powdery, snowy and extremely picturesque Oslo, Norway, this character driven film is adapted from the book written by Norwegian writer Jo Nesbo. It's a British crime thriller film version of the ever increasingly popular Nordic Noir. It stars actors including Michael Fassbender, Toby Jones, J.K.Simmons and an almost unrecognisable at first glance Val Kilmer
The Snowman is about detective Harry Hole (played by Michael Fassbender) who whilst battling his own inner demons, finds himself in a taunting cat and mouse game with the person responsible for a series of grisly murders. The film gets its title from the macabre looking snowman that the killer builds and leaves at the scene of the crime.
From the very beginning scene and throughout, the story is dark, haunting and the murders gruesome (it's going to take a while before I forget the chilling sound of one of the bits of equipment that the killer frequently uses ) and the landscape on which it's set serves to contrast this magnificently.
It also has its fair amount of both quirky characters and moments, which is just one of the things I think makes this genre so brilliant (it's been a long while since I heard the song Popcorn which is used to brilliant effect in one scene )
It’s not immediately obvious who the serial killer is, so it's great for those that enjoy playing detective or who just like to be kept guessing.
I thoroughly enjoyed this film, it's one of my favourite types and in no way did it disappoint at all. With the hint at the end that there could be another film to be made with a different case, I'll look forward to seeing the next one.
The film released on October 13th is currently being shown in UK cinemas
Belinda Bekki-Winter
