The tragic death of a beautiful young girl starts a tense and atmospheric game of cat and mouse between hunter John Moon and the hardened backwater criminals out for his blood.
Acting
Sam Rockwell's quiet, broken masculinity—never showy, always haunting.
Cinematography
Grey, wet Appalachia that feels like a character suffocating everyone.
Direction
Rosenthal lets dread accumulate like humidity before the storm breaks.
Director
David M. Rosenthal
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Based on Matthew F. Jones's novel, which he adapted himself—rare for authors to keep screenplay control. The film was shot in British Columbia standing in for West Virginia because tax breaks, baby.
This bombed in 2013 because distributors had no idea how to market 'Winter's Bone but make it depressed Sam Rockwell.' It's found its audience slowly, like all good noir—appreciated by the patient and the perpetually anxious.
CA
US
