Husband and wife, Will and Dawn, are in financial crisis after learning the job Will was counting on to salvage their financial future has disappeared in the midst of a market collapse. They set out to drive home on the winter highway back to their city, and in a moment of altruism, pick up siblings Lee and Cheryl, a pair of hitchhikers on their way to start a new life. In the midst of the night they nearly collide with an old man wandering on the snowy highway, hyperthermic and horrifically frostbitten. While searching for his ID they discover a wad of cash, a hand drawn map with GPS coordinates, and a single gold coin inside his coat. Will and Dawn reluctantly go along with Lee’s plan to report him to the police as a John Doe and pocket the money. In an attempt to save their financial struggles, all four venture off into the snowy wilderness in search of the buried gold.
Acting
Aleks Paunovic's Lee is dangerously charismatic desperation personified
Cinematography
British Columbia snowscapes that feel actively hostile
Director
Jason R. Goode
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Director Jason R. Goode shot this in 18 days during an actual British Columbia cold snap, with temperatures dropping to -25°C. The actors' shivering is largely method acting by necessity.
Released in 2015, the film captures post-2008 economic anxiety where middle-class collapse pushes 'good people' into moral freefall—a distinctly Canadian take on American desperation cinema.
CA
