In Cold Light Review
In Cold Light (2025) Film Review from the 24th Annual Tribeca Film Festival, a movie directed by Maxime Giroux, written by Patrick Whistler ang Maika Monroe, Troy Kotsur, Helen Hunt, Allan Hawco, Jesse Irving, Patrick Sabongui, David Haysom, Geena Meszaros, Jessica Abruzzese, Noah Parker, Sampreet Arneja, Michael Hearn, Jeff Jacobs, Scott Janzen, Debra Kurtz and Justin Halley Melo.
Filmmaker Maxime Giroux brings a dark and solemn thriller, In Cold Light, to the silver screen. Maika Monroe is showcased in the picture as a down-on-her-luck young woman named Ava who is forced to confront her difficult past and present through a series of life-or-death obstacles. While the movie is tense and suspenseful right from the opening moments, it can take a toll on its audience as it unveils many unnerving scenes that unfold in such a way that the character development sometimes gets lost in the shuffle.
As the new film’s story begins, Ava is released from jail and shunned in relevant ways by her dad, Will (Oscar-winner Troy Kotsur of CODA), who would prefer to keep his distance from her. Will rides a bull at the local rodeo, but isn’t very successful despite his supposed passion for it. Ava has a bond with her brother, Tom (Jesse Irving), who possesses a strong connection with Ava right from the picture’s outset. Tom understands Ava’s less than noble passions, but things get heavy-handed when they get together and a key character is shot in a car in a central moment that could have the audience gasping for air since this plot point comes as a total shock and feels like it either happens way too quickly or arrives too far out of left field. Ava escapes some “heavy” characters who appear like they wouldn’t mind getting rid of Ava once and for all — if given the opportunity. Ava suffers tremendous loss in the early stages of the movie and her situation doesn’t improve for quite a while.
In the interim, we get scenes of Will and Ava who (through undergoing a disturbing and frightening series of unfortunate events) learn a bit more about the realities of the “cold” world in which we live. One humorous, but still suspenseful, sequence has a little baby appear who has lost its parents. This infant is temporarily taken under Ava’s care. As Ava carries the new baby with her, she takes the little one inside a store and decides to change the infant’s diaper. A store clerk soon notices the open box of diapers and calls for his manager to try to offset Ava’s unusual and distinctive choices.
There are a few key scenes between Monroe and Kotsur’s characters that are, at first, uncomfortable to watch due to the strained relationship these two fictional people have come to find themselves immersed in. Kotsur, a real-life deaf actor and Academy Award winner, plays his role in such a way that there’s a lot of subtext underneath the words that are expressed by Will through sign language. There is no shortage of violence in this picture, but the familial relationship at the movie’s core still turns out to be complex and fascinating to watch.
Helen Hunt, another Oscar winner, eventually appears as Claire, a seemingly less than honorable woman who turns out to play a key role in the action. Claire has some dialogue that could sound a bit clumsy, but Hunt still acquits herself superbly in what some could consider a glorified cameo in a lesser film. Hunt adds depth to the story line through a characterization that is fairly well-developed considering her minimal screen time.
Monroe, for the most part, shines in the movie’s lead role. She is playing a character running for her life and Ava is strong enough to take big gambles that might not pay off. Given her past, Ava seems to have little to lose until she realizes her time could be limited if she’s not careful. That fact ultimately impacts her in devastating ways.
Throughout In Cold Light, the audience will find complexity in large doses. Whereas another movie may have run with its chase sequences and tried to keep the movie more focused on action, this film manages to find a balance between deep drama and chilling revelations which will keep audiences intrigued until the movie’s final concluding scenes. Monroe superbly develops her character who undergoes a transformation as she fights for her survival while facing tremendously difficult challenges. Too bad some of the other characters leave the story line before they are properly developed.
In Cold Light has some cliches that feel a bit more familiar than was expected from this film when considering the quality of the well-realized chase sequences. Luckily, the movie avoids a sense of Déjà vu for the audience thanks to the solid acting. I wouldn’t have pictured Kotsur doing a part like the one he plays in this movie, but the role further shows his tremendous range as an actor. Maika Monroe manages to command the viewer’s attention with her fierce role and the actress gives a layered performance that could sit with viewers for days after seeing the movie. In Cold Light is a raw, thought-provoking and disturbing action/thriller with enough surprises to reel audiences in right from its opening moments.
Rating: 7/10
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