Winter of the Crow (2025)

This one is adapted from a novel. I haven't read the book so that probably impacted my opinion of the film. Overall? I didn't like it very much. 

The introduction is really good. Professor Andrews wakes up in a wonderfully styled 80s British room. The sound design is simple but effective. Then, we follow her to her office and the biggest problem with the film shows up. The dialogue is a very generic James Bond rip-off. She speaks to a student in a pointless scene that has no bearing on the plot and reveals nothing about her character that wasn't also revealed later on. After that, she steps outside and my second biggest issue appears. 

There's some horrible film grain overlaid everything. It could have been the issue of my cinema (god knows I can't trust those people with anything) but it killed the backgrounds. People love those VHS style filters to make things look old, but we worked for clear pictures for a reason. The backgrounds look super flat. This is entirely the fault of the grain because it muddles details, depth, and shadows. It's like the main character is walking around on a stage which doesn't mesh well with the gritty war vibes the film is trying to give. 

I enjoyed the extended scenes in Polish and Russian without subtitles. I didn't understand what they were saying which helped put me in the shoes of the main character. It also helps that they're beautiful languages. Harsh, but still beautiful. 

The ending wasn't as bleak as I would have liked an 80s Poland to be. They over explained a lot of aspects of Poland just to beat the viewer over the head with metaphors later on. I get it, war is constant for it lives on in the damaged land I got it the first time they said it.

The dream sequences were well included. They had the subtlety I wanted from the actual story.

If you're a fan of war stories, I'd say it's worth checking out. Just try to ignore when the professor speaks. Anyone else heard of this one? It doesn't seem to have had much attention.