INFINITE STORM – Review

It’s said truth is stranger than fiction, and one strange tale based on true facts inspired INFINITE STORM, a drama about a lone woman trying to rescue a stranded man in a snowstorm the wintry New Hampshire mountains.

Pam Bales (Naomi Watts), a fit woman in her 50s, is headed up into to the New Hampshire mountains to climb a peak, Mt. Washington, even though the forecast looks brutal for that November day. Stopping by a cafe to fill her thermos with hot cocoa before the climb, the cafe owner (Dennis O’Hare) tries to talk her out of it. But she is determined, reminding him it is a special date, an anniversary perhaps, although we sense it is not a happy one. A glimpse of a patch on her gear lets us know she is with a search-and-rescue operation, so she should know what she is doing.

When Pam arrives in the trail head parking lot, she notices another car in the lot and speaks briefly to a couple who are leaving but they don’t know to whom it belongs. The hike up the mountain is rugged but the weather is still clear, and as she ascends, she starts hearing odd sounds, which may be the other climber. She calls out but no one responds. Nearing the top, the predicted snowstorm blows in, but she struggles on until the weather becomes so savage that she decides to turn back. Then she sees the footprints – an inexperienced climber in tennis shoes, not even hiking boots.

She begins to track the footprints and, with the wind howling and sleet falling, she comes upon a young man (Billy Howle) seated on a rock, facing away from her. He is barely responsive, won’t even give his name. Pam’s training and experience kick in, and she tells him she is there to rescue him. As she sets about doing that, she decides to call him John until she knows his name.

Thus begins a harrowing true tale of wilderness rescue in a blinding snowstorm, made even more treacherous by the uncooperative, even bizarre, behavior of the man being rescued. It is not clear if he is coherent, or even that he wants to be saved, but at other times, he is panicked and frightened. That he is twice her size does not help. And there is a ticking-clock element too, as they must at least reach the tree line before dark to have any hope. No matter the risk to herself, she cannot leave him behind.

Based on a true story, Pam Bales battled both the elements and the uncooperative stranded man in this gripping wilderness adventure, and Naomi Watts does a fine job as this tough but caring woman, who persists despite her own pain, for the sake of this stranger. Pam keeps up a patter of encouragement as she works but it is generally a one-way conversation. The man being rescued says little, and Billy Howle as that stranger is very, well, strange, as the role demands. At times, “John” is child-like and crying, or passive, even nearly comatose, but other times he is defiant, heading off in the wrong direction. His actions endanger himself but her as well, as she cannot just abandon him. Yet his communication is often to tell her off or just howl with pain, as if she is the cause of it all. At times, his behavior is so odd that one might be tempted to think the whole thing is happening in Pam’s imagination, and that the stranger does not really even exist, which makes as much sense as anything. However, that this drama is based on a true story is a fact brings us back from that thought.

Shot in Eastern Europe, apparently Slovenia, the mountain vistas have a wild beauty as well as a frightening power which is shot in a dramatic style with de-saturated color by cinematographer Michal Englert. This tale is not just man-versus-nature, but about inner human struggles, man-versus-self. Some of what happens is twist of fate, much like Pam being on the mountain at the same time as the man, and sometimes those chance happenings are good but often they are not. Sometimes she makes choices that don’t make sense given her oddball charge and other times his actions are hard to comprehend. He seems to waiver between helpless and clumsy, and strong and agile, making more than his mental state a mystery.

The strangeness of the stranded man is part of why this rescue tale doesn’t quite follow the usual formula for this kind of man-against-nature drama, although in some ways it must. But there is also a philosophical bent to this tale, built around grappling with grief. Periodically, there are flashbacks to Pam playing with her two little girls, while we sense they are no longer part of her life. In pieces, we learn more about that story but the nameless man remains more opaque until we gain a little insight late in the film.

The rescue itself has a coda that helps bring everything into better focus. The drama has a contemplative message about grief and about how experiences and people can change the direction of one’s life. Those expecting this to be a straightforward simple adventure tale will get more than they bargained for.

INFINITE STORM opens Friday, March 25, at multiple theaters.

RATING: 3 out of 4 stars