Thursday, August 4, 2022

Let It Snow (2020)

Mia and Max are snowboarders who head to Ukraine to ski the Black Ridge. They are warned to stay away from it by locals. Not only is it dangerous, but experienced snowboarders have disappeared. 

Years ago snowboarders hit a girl on the mountain and left her to die.  Legend has it her ghost lives on the mountain and kills tourists, especially snowboarders.

Max is one of those smarmy guys who thinks he’s super attractive. He tries to ply his questionable charm on the desk clerk to see if she can do anything to get them to the mountain. She is not amused.  Max and Mia are entitled so they assume she’s just jealous and hate all happy couples.

That night a body is recovered on Black Ridge. When they see the body being brought back, Mia says something feels off about the trip. Max counters just because an idiot over estimated his ability doesn’t mean they have to cancel their plans, thus proving Max is an idiot who overestimates his ability.  Mia has only been snowboarding for two years and it’s not clear how much experience she has riding in the wild rather than on groomed trails.

The next day Max keeps up his “but we came all the way from the US” bullshit to try to get to Black Ridge.  You’d think if he was traveling all that way, he’d actually research whether it was feasible to go to the mountain and have respect for the locals, rather than trying to guilt, pressure or charm people.  

Eventually he bribes a pilot to take them to Black Ridge. Since they are snowboarding off the grid, they decide to be smart and stick together. Within a few minutes, Max goes off and Mia is left wondering where he’s gone.

If only they’d made good decisions, such as: don’t go to a restricted area; don’t be alone in an area with no cell reception; don’t scoff at local legends since they often have a basis in fact; or don’t date smarmy guys who think they can charm, pressure, or buy their way to getting what they want.

What awaits our intrepid young couple is a person in a parka on a snowmobile with an axe.  And that’s not good for anyone.

The scenery and cinematography are nice.  The characters are not. 

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