The story of Snow Valley follows a couple, Laura and Heath, as they spend time at Heath’s palatial family ski chalet in the mountains. What begins as a luxurious weekend getaway turns into an engagement celebration when Heath proposes to Laura. They are joined by two of their friends who arrive just before a winter storm sets in, and another, not-so-welcome friend arrives soon after. But that’s not all. Laura learns that Heath hasn’t been completely open and honest about himself and the house they’re currently staying in. She also senses a mysterious presence in the house that may be trying to make contact with her.
Snow Valley is a supernatural thriller from writer and director Brandon Murphy. Murphy previously worked as one of the screenwriters on The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard (2021), and Snow Valley was his directorial debut. Sadly, Brandon Murphy passed away in 2022 while the film was in post production. It was later completed and released in March of 2024.
Snow Valley is described as a psychological thriller, and it is also labeled as a horror movie and a comedy on various sites. Though it does contain elements of all of these descriptions, it takes a very long time before the film resembles any of them. The first two-thirds of the movie is a tepid drama about mild issues between two couples and a third wheel (technically a fifth wheel) who shows up and acts erratically. Snow Valley is only about 75 minutes long, and it’s about 50 minutes in before any horror or comedy starts to slowly creep its way in.
Snow Valley could use more screen time for Barbara Crampton. Most movies would be better with more screen time for Barbara Crampton.
There’s a decent story about ghosts, tragedy, and family secrets buried in here somewhere, but unfortunately the whole film misfires on nearly every level.
The most constant misfire is the dialogue. Most of the lines in Snow Valley are delivered in a perfunctory way that sounds like the cast is reading a script word for word during a very early rehearsal. This isn’t necessarily meant as a slam on the cast. Of the actors I’ve seen in other productions before—I’m specifically thinking of the great Barbara Crampton who plays a small role mostly towards the end of Snow Valley—they’ve been good. But here, something just isn’t right.
Maybe it’s an issue with editing. Awkward silences surrounding characters’ lines are left in surprisingly frequently. Still, some of the awkwardness likely has to do with the writing. Word choices feel unnatural many times, sometimes to the point of being nonsensical within the context of the scene. On the plus side, the visual quality of Snow Valley is often good, so it’s at least pleasant to look at.
Overall though, reactions from characters are repeatedly bizarre, disproportionate, or completely out of place. The comedy, when it finally arrives, is even more out of place and random. And the horror, when it finally arrives, feels like it’s tacked on and is never given the attention it needs to be in any way effective. It’s all kind of a bummer that makes the movie difficult to stick with until the end.
Directed by: Brandon Murphy
Starring: Rachel Michiko Whitney, Cooper van Grootel, Ali Fumiko Whitney, David Lambert, Tom Williamson, Paige Elkington, Barbara Crampton, Zachary Bird, Clint Vanderlinden, Graham Watanabe
Screenplay by: Brandon Murphy
Production Design by: Lawrence Humphreys
Cinematography by: Tommy Oceanak
Film Editing by: Colleen Halsey, Zach Wolf
Costume Design by: Emma Fleming
Art Direction by: Molly Saito
Music by: Jamie Biden
MPAA Rating: None.
Distributed by: Gravitas Ventures
Release Date: March 19, 2024
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