Winter (I) (2015) User Reviews

Bleak but superbly acted drama about grief.

[MattyGibbs · 8/10 · 4 April 2017]

Winter is a drama about a man who has a breakdown following the death of his wife. The story follows how this affects the lives of his two boys.

A sparse and haunting soundtrack is the perfect accompaniment to this bleak drama. Tommy Flanagan is great as the husband struggling to cope with his enormous grief despite knowing that it is affecting his children. The hugely likable and ridiculously young looking for his age Tom Payne is also great as the responsible older brother.

Although this film lacks standout moments it always holds your attention thanks to it's fine cast. As you'd expect this is not a fun film to watch but does a great job of showing how hard grief can hit us all.

Winter is a very good emotional drama done on a small budget that is better than the sum of it's parts. Highly recommended.

Powerful and gripping tale

[YesWeCan2017 · 10/10 · 11 March 2014]

Excellent first-time indie production for director and producer combo This tale had it all: drama, a bit of romance, lots of tear-jerking moments and more importantly it dealt with the taboos of mental health issues which health experts believe could be the largest risk to Western society over the next 20 years.

Awareness of mental health issues, how to deal with this within a family unit, the repercussions on all, subsequent codependency, inter-family abuse etc etc.. its' all here in this truly profound and powerful masterpiece

I recommend you watch this with a trusted loved one, so that you can cherish the moment after the movie when one can share, reflect, learn and feel from the images in this tale.

There's a lesson in this story for all of us

This will win a lot of prizes at the real film festivals...

It was Excellent

[countryprincess · 10/10 · 25 November 2017]

What can I say? It was unbelievably so raw and so perfect. Tommy Flanagan as Woods Weston - forget "Sons of Anarchy," "Guardians of the Galaxy 2," "Braveheart," or "Gladiator," - I'm sure one of the reasons Tommy wanted to do this film. Undoubtedly after one watches this extraordinary film, one can agree like I have always thought - Tommy can legit do anything and everything - he is undoubtedly one of the absolute best. Heidi Greensmith - she is one of the best directors around. Bill Milner - he's gonna go places - he was phenomenal as Max Weston. Tom Payne(The Walking Dead-Jesus) - Walking Dead fans y'all have to watch this film, cause he's phenomenal as Tom Weston. Between Heidi Greensmith's sense of direction-and her eye, and Joel Devlin - this film is extremely visually arresting. Paul Benney - his paintings on and off the screen - are all phenomenal - have a look at Paul Benney's sometime-his paintings loved them in the end credits. Stacy Martin - she was phenomenal as Sophie. Dominic Greensmith & Reef-I was in love with their music listening a little before phenomenal and all of the other music in the film too. I think this film is inspirational because it shows some things like one needs to also take care of themself if in a similar situation. I also think it is because of the fact that it draws attention to the subject of "mental disorders," which is not hardly ever spoken about. Tommy was an awesome executive producer - sheesh - I hope to see him directing soon! ^~^ Can't wait for another project between Tommy & Heidi! x Winter was epically phenomenal - it does indeed deserve an Oscar, if not an Oscar a Spirit Award - a BAFTA - something major! x

Worth watching

[pbrambley · 16 November 2017]

My only criticisms - a bit too sensitively dealt with, considering most people wouldn't have such unwavering support as Tom with his girlfriend and her mother. I couldn't help thinking, realistically, Tom and his girlfriend would've broken up over this if her mother hasn't conveniently been involved in the 'case'.

Not enough focus on the youngest son who was, let's face it, in real life, a heartbeat away from ending up permanently in the care system. Is it worse to lose your spouse or worse to lose your mother? This film seemed to assume it was worse to lose your wife?