5 Best Thrillers With a Winter Atmosphere, Ranked by Rotten Tomatoes
A snowstorm can hide not only footprints, but also the darkest secrets.
The thriller genre, in which tension is born from silence and isolation, gains particular power against the backdrop of snowy landscapes and icy silence.
The cold is not just a backdrop – it is a character that heightens feelings of anxiety, loneliness, and paranoia.
5. 'The Revenant', 2015
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 78%
19th-century American Northwest. Trapper Hugh Glass is attacked by a bear and left severely wounded. Having recently survived the attack, Glass' party sets out for a nearby fort with the remains of their pelts.
They decide to take Glass with them, but John disagrees, claiming that he will slow down the entire group. They instruct John to stay with Glass until he dies and give him a proper burial. However, John leaves Glass to die alone.
However, Hugh has no intention of dying. He must travel hundreds of miles alone through the winter forest to reach the fort and exact revenge on John.
4. 'Wind River', 2017
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 87%
After his daughter died, Cory found a job where he wouldn't be disturbed. He works for the Game and Fish Department, where his job involves keeping predator populations within acceptable limits – specifically, hunting.
One day, while working on the former Wind River Indian Reservation, he discovered a girl's body. His discovery attracted the attention of the local police and the FBI, which sent an agent to investigate.
Since the case isn't high-profile, the assignment goes to a recent Academy graduate. Upon arriving, she realizes that it will be very difficult for her to navigate these wild lands without a guide, so she turns to Cory for help.
3. 'Insomnia', 2002
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 92%
Will Dormer is a seasoned police officer. He has seen it all – murder, violence, and corruption – but he has always remained true to his mission of solving crimes and catching perpetrators.
During a murder investigation, Will's partner is killed, and he finds himself drawn into a strange relationship with the number one suspect: writer Walter Finch.
His interactions with Finch shatter his worldview and threaten not only his sanity, but also his entire career.
2. 'Snowpiercer', 2013
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 94%
In their fight against global warming, scientists sprayed a special cooling chemical across the planet. It worked all too well, leading to a catastrophe – a new ice age descended upon Earth.
Only those who managed to board a gigantic train powered by a perpetual motion machine, survived. The distribution system on this train is far from ideal – the elite live in the first cars while the poor live in the last cars and are left with nothing but the dregs.
One day, a prisoner decides to fight his way into first class and plans a revolution.
1. 'Fargo', 1996
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 94%
Jerry works at his father-in-law's car dealership, but one day he faces serious financial problems. He tries various schemes promising quick cash, but fails each time.
Finally, he decides to stage the kidnapping of his wife, confident that his father-in-law will pay a large ransom. He hires two hitmen, but almost immediately, everything goes awry.
What starts as a harmless undertaking escalates into a massacre, and the small, snowy town of Fargo is flooded with rivers of blood. Pregnant police officer Marge is assigned to investigate the string of murders.
