One car, one couple, 90 minutes.
That’s the premise behind “Centigrade,” the most claustrophobic film imaginable—the entire movie is set inside a car beneath five feet of snow, and it plays like a mashup between “Buried” and “The Ice Storm.” But whereas those films are high-concept, yet tightly controlled, writer-director Brendan Walsh throws all restraint out the window for his new film. Secrets? A stabbing? A pregnancy? You name it, Walsh throws it into the mix.
In this arctic thriller, married couple Naomi (Genesis Rodriguez) and Mathew (Vincent Piazza) wake up in their SUV, which is buried under ice and snow. While traveling through Norway as part of Naomi’s book tour, they had pulled over to get some rest, unaware of the storm that would cover their vehicle from head to wheels. Naomi, who we learn is eight months pregnant, thinks they should break a window, then crawl out of the snow to safety. Mathew is more reasonable, saying they should wait for help and use the tools at their disposal: water, food, and a cellphone, which somehow has five bars of service (imagine the Verizon Wireless ad: “Five bars when you’re five feet under snow!”). Later, Naomi’s pregnancy worsens. She’s panicking. Why aren’t we?
The situation becomes even more dire when the couple starts to argue, with Mathew and Naomi cycling through blame, resentment, and depression as nights turn to days and days turn to weeks. Soon we learn Naomi has a skeleton or two in her closet, having already hidden chocolates from Mathew, and soon, she lets her husband call the shots. One of Walsh’s better ideas is to lay out plenty of information early, stuff along the lines of who wears the pants in the family or why opening the door might not be the best idea. It’s also the director’s job to make you believe that you are stuck in the car, to make you feel, somewhere in your subconscious, that this sub-zero igloo is your last chance at survival.
Unfortunately, Walsh, working with a small budget and limited space, doesn’t deliver on that front. There are several nice images, like the drone shots of wind and mountains, and some camera angles inside the car are downright chilling. But there’s way too much going on here, especially for a set the size of most people’s closets. The movie was reportedly filmed in an ice cream freezer, in which the temperature was 20 degrees. The actors also dieted to match the weight loss of their characters. Tragically, both efforts at verisimilitude are crushed by an avalanche of unrealistic plot points, none of which will be spoiled here.
Rather than focusing on the specific aspects that make the film unique, “Centigrade” turns into a mishmash of genres. Mathew gets his stir-crazy “The Shining” moment, and the final act is like something out of “Cast Away” crossed with “Scenes from a Marriage.” Neither Piazza or Rodriguez are up to the task, at least until the end, when Rodriguez finds the motivation to push forward and to break out. She cries, claws, scrapes, then smashes a window and drudges through the freezing ice.
While there’s reason to root for her success, it’s not the same reason the filmmakers intended. Ultimately, her escape is our sweet release. [C-]
“Centigrade” is available now on VOD and in select theaters.