COLD MEAT (2023)

Available On Demand and digital download from Level 33 Entertainment!
Directed by Sébastien Drouin.
Written by Sébastien Drouin, Andrew Desmond, James Kermack.
Starring Allen Leech, Nina Bergman, Yan Tual, Riley Banzer, James Barton-Steel, Gil Botelho, Kat Fullerton, Sydney Hendricks, William Kuklis, Alexander Shefler
Check out the trailer here!!

David (DOWNTON ABBEY’s Allen Leech) encounters waitress Ana (Nina Bergman) one lonely and cold night at truck stop. When David stands up to Ana’s abusive boyfriend Vincent (Yan Tual), Ana is appreciative. Later, as David drives down the snowy highway, he is pursued by Vincent, resulting in a car crash where David runs his car into a snow bank. Thus begins an arduous story of survival against the elements and possibly the legendary Wendigo itself.

COLD MEAT is a surprisingly good film as it keeps much of its secrets close to its vest right up until it almost hurts not to know them. The way the three of these players interact takes many forms throughout the story. Predator, prey, savior, and survivor. David, Ana, and Vincent play all of these roles by the end of the story. Like another film I recently reviewed, THE GIRL IN THE TRUNK, COLD MEAT is a film that basically takes place in one single location, a car, for the entirety of the film. But unlike THE GIRL IN THE TRUNK, COLD MEAT is able to maintain my investment all the way through, packing every minute with tense interactions and heightened suspense.

The acting is top tier here. Both Allen Leech and Nina Bergman are fantastic actors and seeing them riff off of one another is the highlight of the movie as they both become trapped in this car with no help in sight. The solitude and pressures wear on the two trapped within the vehicle as the temperature drops and the hopes of rescue diminish, pitting both man versus woman, but also both versus the elements. Seeing these two agree and disagree to work together is a wonderful rollercoaster to ride.

On top of all of this, there’s a supernatural element of the wendigo that lingers in the air that seems to be drawn to those facing sheer desperation. COLD MEAT ends up just shy of being a creature feature as the legend of the wendigo feels more of a metaphorical threat. All of it comes together rather simply and beautifully by the end, making COLD MEAT a great example of how to make a one location film right, filling it with knuckle-whitening tension, amazing wordplay between the characters, and an ever-present lingering danger inside and outside of the car. I recommend this low fi, but high stakes thriller.