A Long Winter Brings Family Isolation to Colorado Mountains

Andrew Haigh’s A Long Winter, a 1-hour-59-minute drama adapted from a Colm Tóibín novella, screened at the Telluride Film Festival. Set in Colorado’s Rocky Mountains, the film stars Fred Hechinger as Mikey, whose mother, Louise (Caitríona Balfe), disappears as winter closes in, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The review portrays the disappearance as following escalating family strain around Louise’s heavy drinking and isolation. Ebon Moss-Bachrach plays Mikey’s father, Lester; Kit Connor, D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai and Martin Freeman also appear. The story combines grief, family conflict, isolation and Mikey’s emerging queer desire during the search for Louise, the review says.

The Hollywood Reporter calls the film “restrained but deeply felt,” praising Haigh’s character observation and the performances of Hechinger, Moss-Bachrach and Woon-A-Tai, while saying its muted, slow-burn approach may feel underpowered to some viewers.

Impact assessment

The review particularly commends Hechinger’s portrayal of Mikey, describing a performance that balances innocence and adult longing. Its favorable assessment is one critic’s view; the reporting does not establish broader critical or audience response, nor does it provide a general release date, distribution plan or box-office outcome.