Filmed and set in British Columbia, the drama features Aleks Paunovic and Marie Avgeropoulos as hitchhikers with dubious agendas.
It's surprising how well snow and crime go together.
Fargo, A Simple Plan, the underrated John Cusack vehicle The Ice Harvest: all excellent thrillers that mix miscreants and mittens. Cold hearts and colder climes – there's some sense in it.
In his debut feature Numb, director Jason R. Goode attempts to join the subgenre's wintry ranks, to varying degrees of success.
Filmed and set in British Columbia, the drama is mostly a four-hander: After picking up two hitchhikers (Aleks Paunovic, Marie Avgeropoulos) with dubious agendas, debt-ridden couple Will (Jamie Bamber) and Dawn (Stefanie von Pfetten) wind up in the possession of GPS co-ordinates that promise gold at the end of the digital-compass rainbow.
If you've ever seen any honour-among-thieves tales (including the aforementioned snowbound titles), you can guess where things go: south, and fast. But not fast enough, with Goode building tension only to break it awkwardly.
And while Bamber impresses, the rest of the cast isn't up to the challenge.
There are chills here and there, but not enough to justify putting on your coat and braving the elements on the way to the theatre.
Barry Hertz